European leaders yesterday said that US President Donald Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of US troops out of Germany came as a surprise, but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.
The Pentagon last week announced that it would pull about 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters on Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.”
He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the US-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger that European allies have been reluctant to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.
Photo: AFP
Asked about the decision to pull out 5,000 troops from Germany, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said: “I wouldn’t exaggerate that because I think we are expecting that Europe is taking more charge of its own security.
“I do not see those figures as dramatic, but I think they should be handled in a harmonious way inside the framework of NATO,” he told reporters in Yerevan, where European leaders are holding a summit.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said: “There has been a talk about withdrawal of US troops for a long time from Europe. But of course, the timing of this announcement comes as a surprise.”
“I think it shows that we have to really strengthen the European pillar in NATO,” she said.
Asked whether she believes that Trump is trying to punish Merz, who said that the US has been humiliated by Iran in talks to end the war, Kallas said: “I don’t see into the head of President Trump, so he has to explain it himself.”
Over the weekend, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that officials at the 32-nation military alliance “are working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany.”
European allies and Canada have known since just after he came to office again last year that Trump would pull troops out of Europe — indeed some left Romania in October — but US officials had pledged to coordinate any moves with their NATO allies to avoid creating a security vacuum.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the move, saying that “there has been at this point disappointment on the US side” about European support for the war on Iran.
Notably France, Spain and the UK have declined to give US forces free rein to use bases on their territory to attack Iran. Spain has denied them the use of its airspace and bases there for the war.
However, Rutte, who has championed Trump’s leadership at NATO, despite the US president’s criticism of the majority of the allies, said: “I would say the Europeans have heard a message. They are now making sure that all the bilateral basing agreements are being implemented.”
Rutte added that European nations “have decided to pre-position assets, key assets, close to the theater for the next phase.”
He provided no details, but the Europeans have insisted they would not help police the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy trade route, until the war is over.
French President Emmanuel Macron said “if the United States is ready to reopen Hormuz, that’s great. That’s what we’ve been asking for since the beginning.”
However, he underlined that Europeans are not ready to get involved in any operation “that does not seem clear to us.”
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