European NATO allies are confident that US President Donald Trump will reduce the number of troops stationed in Europe, which stands at about 80,000, and redirect them to Asia and the Middle East.
NATO's European allies have begun quietly preparing for how the alliance should respond to a potential drawdown of U.S. troops on the continent.
Euractiv reports this.
As noted, European allies in NATO are convinced that US President Donald Trump will reduce the number of troops stationed in Europe, which is about 80 thousand, and redirect them to Asia and the Middle East.
The publication writes that the Alliance military is discussing three key issues: how many American troops will be withdrawn, how abrupt the withdrawal will be, and whether European forces are capable of replacing the withdrawn American military forces from the continent.
“The question is not whether there will be a withdrawal of American troops, but how orderly this can be done without jeopardizing the existing defense plans of the Alliance,” said one NATO diplomat.
Just last year, the Alliance revised its defense plans, which outline how it will respond to any potential attack. But those plans rely heavily on American weapons, air power, and tens of thousands of U.S. troops to respond to any potential enemy.
NATO's eastern flank is particularly concerned about a possible sudden withdrawal of U.S. troops, which would likely lead to immediate requests for reinforcements from other alliance members. Some of these countries are privately calling on NATO to speed up negotiations on a defense review to begin preparing for a significantly reduced U.S. role.
The withdrawal of American troops is expected to have a major impact on major American military bases in Germany and Italy, the publication writes.
Defense officials in the region say European forces may be combat-ready, but they are years away from replacing the current U.S. force, especially given the complex and expensive capabilities European countries lack in air power, logistics and satellite systems.
US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague that the Pentagon’s assessment of US troop deployments in Europe should be “completed by the end of the summer or early fall.” He stressed that any changes would be made “in close coordination with NATO allies to ensure that there are no security gaps in defense capabilities,” and that any US forces withdrawn could be replaced by forces from NATO member states. However, European allies have not yet received any information from US officials about Washington’s upcoming reassessment, several European diplomats at NATO confirmed.
Many European defense planners were concerned about the potential for the U.S. to rush into decisions without transatlantic consultation. They were not reassured by comments from senior Trump administration officials, such as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who earlier this year promised his European counterparts that “there would be no surprises.”
Let us recall that on June 24-25, the NATO summit was held in The Hague, the Netherlands. The main topics were defense spending, support for Ukraine, and updating the deterrence strategy in response to Russia's aggressive actions.
