The move to withdraw 9,500 troops from Germany, reported by US media, would reduce the US's commitment to European defence under the Nato umbrella
US soldiers during military exercises in Grafenwoehr, Germany. Picture: CHRISTOFF STACHE / AFPGermany on Sunday voiced concern at reports that President Donald Trump plans to cut the number of US troops stationed in Germany, amid fears it could weaken a key pillar of Nato defence in the region.
“Should it come to the withdrawal of part of the US troops, we take note of this,” Maas told the Bild am Sonntag daily. The Wall Street Journal and other media reported on Friday that Trump had ordered the Pentagon to reduce the number of US military personnel by 9,500 from the 34,500 permanently assigned in Germany.
But Trump's lukewarm support of legacy co-operation agreements with European allies has caused alarm on the continent. Johann Wadephul, a senior member in Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU party, said the troop reduction plan should showed that the Trump administration was “neglecting an elementary leadership task: involving alliance partners in the decision-making process”.
Former US army Europe commander Ben Hodges, who was stationed in the German city of Wiesbaden before he retired, said a US drawdown would be “a colossal mistake” and “a gift” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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