NATO, about the military exodus from Germany announced by the United States: “We are working with the US to understand the details of the decision”
NATO is working with the United States to understand the details of the US decision on the planned withdrawal of US troops from Germany, NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said on Saturday, according to Reuters.
“We are working with the US to understand the details of its decision to deploy forces in Germany. This adjustment underlines the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defense and to take a greater share of responsibility for our shared security – an area where we are already seeing progress since the Allies agreed to invest 5% of GDP at the NATO summit in The Hague last year,” Hart wrote on X.
“We remain confident in our ability to deliver our deterrence and defense as this transition to a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO continues,” she added.
The Pentagon announced on Friday that the United States will withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, the largest US base in Europe, amid tensions over the war with Iran and tariffs that put further strain on US-European relations.
A planned withdrawal of US troops from Germany should prompt Europeans to further strengthen their own defences, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday, following the latest round of criticism from Washington on transatlantic relations.
Pistorius said the move was expected.
Trump had threatened a drawdown earlier this week after falling out with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who questioned Washington's Middle East strategy.
Germany is strengthening its troops and military infrastructure
Pistorius said the partial withdrawal would affect the current US presence of nearly 40,000 troops stationed in Germany. Other estimates place the presence of active troops at 35,000.
“We Europeans need to take more responsibility for our own security,” Pistorius said, adding that “Germany is on the right track” by expanding its armed forces, accelerating military procurement and building infrastructure.
Germany wants to increase the number of Bundeswehr soldiers on active duty from the current 185,000 to 260,000, although critics of the defense minister in Berlin have called for more troops in response to a widely perceived growing threat from Russia.
NATO members have pledged to take more responsibility for their own defense, but given tight budgets and huge gaps in military capability, it will be years before the region can meet its own security needs.
Which American troops will be withdrawn
The US military presence in Germany, which began as an occupation force after World War II, reached its peak in the 1960s, when hundreds of thousands of US troops were stationed there to counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The US presence includes the gigantic Ramstein Air Base and the Landstuhl hospital, both of which have been used by the US to support its war in Iran, as well as previous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon's decision means an entire brigade will leave Germany, and a long-range artillery battalion that was due to deploy later this year will no longer be stationed.
The loss of the long-range artillery will be a particular blow to Berlin, as it would constitute a significant additional deterrent against Russia, while the Europeans are developing such long-range missiles themselves.
