Ramstein Air Base serves as headquarters for the U.S. Air Force and Army forces in Europe.
Photo: ronald wittek/ShutterstockDefense Secretary Mark Esper will on Monday present to the White House options to reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany by nearly 10,000 troops in what would be a dramatic reshaping of the U.S. presence in Europe.
“Secretary Esper met with President Trump on Wednesday to discuss our presence in Europe. On Monday the Secretary will brief the President at the White House on options for our force posture in Germany,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.
The Pentagon proposal would offer scenarios to bring some of those troops back to the U.S., rotate some around Europe and have others permanently stationed in other parts of Europe, defense officials said.
President Trump directed the Pentagon to reduce the U.S. troop presence in Germany by 9,500 from the 34,500 service members who are permanently assigned there. As many 52,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany at any given time.
The proposal has been met with disagreement within the Pentagon, as some fear such a shift would weaken a decadeslong alliance and embolden U.S. adversaries, including Russia.
A U.S. troop withdrawal from Europe could be seen as a softening of the U.S. stance toward Russia at a time when it appears to have become more adversarial toward the U.S.
White House deliberations come amid reports that a Russian spy unit has been offering bounties to Taliban forces in Afghanistan to kill U.S. soldiers.
On Wednesday, during a White House visit with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the White House, Mr. Trump offered some details of where the troops could go, saying some would move from Germany into Poland. He didn’t specify whether they would be rotated through Poland or permanently deployed there.
“They’ll be paying for the sending of additional troops, and we’ll probably be moving them from Germany to Poland,” Trump told reporters at a joint press conference with President Duda in the Rose Garden. “We’re going to be reducing Germany very substantially down to about 25,000 troops.”
Germany is a hub for U.S. military training in Europe, supports military operations around the world and serves as headquarters for the U.S. Air Force and Army forces in Europe. The U.S. Africa Command also is located in Germany.
President Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with Germany’s level of military spending. Germany’s defense minister promised last year to meet the NATO goal of spending 2% of its GDP on defense—a U.S. demand—but not until 2031.
While visiting Brussels Friday, Mr. Esper, in brief remarks, “urged allies to meet their target goal of 2% of GDP,” he said.
“We’ve moved a good distance here in the last few years, but there’s much, much more we need to do to ensure our collective security,” Mr. Esper said.
Write to Nancy A. Youssef at nancy.youssef@wsj.com
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
"Give" - Google News
June 29, 2020 at 05:43AM
https://ift.tt/3g8EF2Y
Defense Secretary to Give Trump Options on U.S. Presence in Germany - The Wall Street Journal
"Give" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YqGX80
https://ift.tt/2YquBwx
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Defense Secretary to Give Trump Options on U.S. Presence in Germany - The Wall Street Journal"
Post a Comment