Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius earlier Saturday sought to downplay the impact of Washington’s decision to scale back its troop presence in the country, casting the move as anticipated and using it to underline Europe’s need to take greater responsibility for its own security.
NATO said it was “working with the U.S. to understand the details” of the Pentagon’s decision to pull the troops. The move “underscores the need for Europe to invest more in defense,” NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said in a statement.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the withdrawal in response to “conditions on the ground” after reviewing U.S. troop buildup in Europe, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement on Friday. The cuts would still leave around 33,000 American troops in Germany.
In the U.S. Congress, the Republican heads of the House and Senate Armed Service committees on Saturday said they are “very concerned” about the U.S. troop drawdown in Germany. They also insisted that “significant” changes to the American posture in Europe demands “a deliberate review process,” according to a joint statement.
“Germany has stepped up in response to President Trump’s call for greater burden sharing, significantly increasing defense spending and providing seamless access, basing and overflight for U.S. forces in support of Operation Epic Fury,” the committee chairmen, Senator Roger Wicker and Representative Mike Rogers, said in their statement.
“Prematurely reducing” the U.S. military presence in Europe “sends the wrong signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wicker and Rogers said in the statement.
Source:
www.politico.eu