Germany, NATO Stress Self-Reliance in Response to American Troop Drawdown From Germany

German and European leaders are putting a brave face on America’s decision to pull 5,000 troops out of Germany, casting it as further evidence of the need for Europe to play a greater role in its own defense. “That US troops are withdrawing from Europe and also from Germany was to be expected,” the German defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said Saturday according to the country’s national broadcaster, Deutsche Welle. He acknowledged that the Europeans “must take on more responsibility for our own security” and maintained that Germany is already “on the right track” with moves to expand its armed forces, speed up military procurement and build infrastructure.A NATO spokeswoman, Allison Hart, said similarly on X that the American “adjustment” drives home the need for Europe to invest more in its own defense. “We remain confident in our ability to provide for our deterrence and defense as this shift toward a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO continues.”The confident statements did little, however, to paper over concerns in Europe that the alliance — further strained by an ugly exchange this week between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Trump — is headed in an unwelcome direction.Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland, one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion, warned Saturday on X about the internal pressures on the alliance.“The greatest threat to the transatlantic community [is] not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance,” he wrote. “We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend.”The drawdown is also causing concern on the American side of the Atlantic, where the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Jack Reed, issued a statement urging Mr. Trump to reconsider. “Weakening our military footprint in Europe at a time when Russian forces continue to mercilessly attack Ukraine and harass our NATO allies is a priceless gift to Vladimir Putin and suggests American commitments to our allies are dependent on the president’s mood,” Mr. Reed said.The decision to withdraw 5,000 of the existing 35,000 to 40,000 American troops from Germany was announced Friday by the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell. He said the decision follows a “thorough review” of the military’s force posture in Europe and that the withdrawal is likely to be completed over the next six to 12 months.But another senior defense official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, was quoted saying that remarks this week by Mr. Merz had been “inappropriate and unhelpful.” The official added: “We’ve urged them to take a practical, businesslike approach to building a Europe-led NATO. They didn’t take that advice, and this is the result.”Mr. Merz, who has taken a lead in pushing Europe’s NATO members to rapidly boost defense spending, irritated Mr. Trump with remarks at a high school on Monday when he described the war in Iran as “ill-considered” and said America was being “humiliated” by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.The Americans “quite obviously went into this war in Iran without any strategy whatsoever,” Mr. Merz was quoted as saying after the Trump administration called off the latest plan to send peace negotiators to Pakistan. “Especially since the Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilled at not negotiating,” he said.Mr. Trump responded with his own harshly worded social media post, saying Mr. Merz “thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! If Iran had a nuclear weapon, the whole world would be held hostage.”He continued, “I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other nations or presidents should have done long ago. No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both economically and otherwise!”The military impact of the withdrawal may be less serious than the diplomatic blow, even at a time when America’s European allies — especially Germany, Poland, and the Baltic countries — are increasingly worried by Russia’s aggressive hybrid warfare tactics near their borders.A senior Defense Department spokesman quoted by the Washington Post said the withdrawal will affect an Army brigade combat team now deployed in Germany as well as a long-range fires battalion, a unit that includes artillery and missile capabilities, set to arrive later this year. More troops may be added later, the unidentified official said.The decision effectively unwinds a troop buildup in Germany put in place by the Biden administration after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, restoring troop deployments to pre-invasion levels.

Germany, NATO Stress Self-Reliance in Response to American Troop Drawdown From Germany

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