When Trump will make a decision on US troops in Europe. “There are reasons to think of a withdrawal”
European countries NATO members are waiting for Donald Trump's verdict on American military presence in this region, after promising to supplement their expenses for their own defense.
Trump is about to make a decision on the presence of US military troops in Europe: AFP
The Pentagon is to present, by the fall, its recommendations regarding future American troops outside the country, and Donald Trump will later make a decision in this regard.
About 85,000 American soldiers are stationed in Europe today, but Europeans know that this number will decrease.
“There are every reason to think about a US withdrawal from Europe. And the question is not if, but at what speed this will happen ””is the opinion of Marta Minknik, an expert at the International Crisis Group, according to AFP, quoted by Agerpres.
The most optimistic ones hope to a gradual decrease, of a maximum of 20,000 soldiers, which would bring the level of American troops to Europe to the one who predominated before the Russian invasion in Ukraine in February 2022.
“Would not be the end of the world”, Confessed a European diplomat from NATO.
Instead, the United States offers new assurances to European allies. “We agreed that there would be no surprises or gaps“In the defense capabilities of the European continent, said the American ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker.
“NATO coordinates with Washington and there is no particular concern”, Appreciated a representative of the North Atlantic Alliance.
The US has been trying to reorient its strategic priorities to Asia for many years, including by reducing “footprint“In Europe, explains Ian Lesser, a security expert at the German Marshall Fund, a reflection group based in Brussels.
Donald Trump's return to the White House in January did nothing but accentuate this trend.
The US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had caused the concern of European allies in February announcing that they should take over “the responsibility of their own conventional security on the continent”.
In Ian Lesser's opinion, the issue of the American calendar is essential, as the promises made by Europeans at the NATO Summit in The Hague “will not translate into terms of real -term borks”.
