Caught Off Guard: Stunned EU Leaders React To Trump's Troop Reduction In Germany
European officials have expressed dismay, disappointment, and surprise in the wake of the weekend announcement by the Trump administration that the US will be withdrawing some 5,000 troops from Germany over the coming months.
"There has been talk about withdrawing US troops from Europe for a long time. But of course, the timing of this announcement comes as a surprise," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed on the sidelines of the European Political Community meeting in Yerevan, Armenia on Monday.
She then tried to find a silver lining, saying this must motivate Europe to strengthen its own role inside NATO. "I think it shows that we have to really strengthen the European pillar in NATO and we really have to do more," she said.
But she also reasoned, "American troops are not in Europe only for protecting European interests, but also American interests." Kallas also said: "I don't see into the head of President Trump, so he has to explain it himself."
Similarly, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte reacted by saying European leaders have “gotten the message” from Trump following the announcement.
Rutte, who is also in Armenia, acknowledged "disappointment from the US side" and said, "European leaders have gotten the message. They heard the message loud and clear." He followed with: "Europeans are stepping up, a bigger role for Europe and a stronger NATO."
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre when asked about the troop reduction, described "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.
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said officials at the 32-member alliance currently "are working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany."
Over several years, and stretching back decades, the US has maintained the most number of troops on the European continent in Germany - currently estimated at over 36,000 active duty personnel. So the 5,000 - while significant - is still somewhat of a symbolic move and number.
The large US presence hearkens back to the post WWII division of Germany and post-war order, and is also a legacy of the Cold War. Ironically at this very moment European leaders have hyped a 'new Cold War' with Russia, as the Ukraine war continues raging.
"The officials characterized the move as a signal of President Trump's discontent with the level of assistance that European allies have offered in the U.S.-Iran war," CBS wrote on the reduction decision.
The significance of the planned move also lies in the fact that America's German bases serve as headquarters of US European Command and Africa Command - with the historic Ramstein Air Base being the key hub.
The announcement via US reporting comes just a day after Trump again lambasted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz:
"The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!), and fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat, thereby making the World, including Germany, a safer place!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Merz had in a rare moment torched US foreign policy and the Trump administration's Iran war gambit in Monday remarks given at a local event in Germany. Included in that very head-on critique of Operation Epic Fury came in the following: "An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible."
Merz had also claimed, "If I had known that it would continue like this for five or six weeks and get progressively worse, I would have told him even more emphatically."