US troop pullout makes Europe rethink about American dependence
The Trump administration is withdrawing troops from Germany while proactively establishing defense systems in Eastern Europe. This has created more divisions in Europe.
A senior US official said on Friday that US President Donald Trump has ordered the US military to remove 9,500 soldiers from Germany. As close partners in the transatlantic alliance, Washington-Berlin ties will be negatively affected due to the proposed troop withdrawal. This may reshape the security architecture in Europe.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was caught off guard by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull 9,500 U.S. troops out of Germany by September.
The government wasn’t officially notified by the U.S. about Trump’s plan, and it has so far only found out about the matter from media reports, a German government official said on Saturday, declining to comment further.
From the U.S. point of view, the troop withdrawal would make sense, another German official said under the condition of anonymity. Germany is no longer in the front line like during the Cold War, but has instead become a hub for U.S. operations in the Middle East. The U.S. would therefore most likely not withdraw all of its troops, but only ones who are no longer needed.
For a long time, Germany has viewed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a security provider for the entire Europe and believes that cooperation with the US and other NATO partners is crucial to Germany’s own security.
In recent years, the number of US troops stationed in Germany has been declining dramatically, from 72,400 in 2006 to 34,500 at present. The increasingly complex global security landscape urges Washington to adjust its strategic focus. The Merkel administration is also reconsidering Germany’s security and defense policies.
However, even after 9,500 US soldiers are removed from Germany, there will still be 25,000 left. Furthermore, the headquarters of the US European Command remain in Stuttgart, Germany. That being said, Berlin’s strategic significance to Washington, as well as Germany’s security dependence on the US and NATO, will not change in the short run.
The US’ planned withdrawal of its troops from Germany has drawn mixed reactions. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany will “take note of” US withdrawal while admitting that US-German relations were “complicated.”
Germany’s ruling center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) supports US military presence in Germany. The left-wing forces in Germany, however, generally welcome the US pullout of its troop.
Germany’s ambivalence is obvious. As Berlin is catering to different domestic opinions, its reliance on NATO’s collective security system will not change any time soon.
On the one hand, this is because of the intensifying divergences between Germany and NATO and the Trump administration’s unilateralism, which have made Germany consider that it is time to keep the security initiative in its own hands.
On the other hand, European defense integration is advancing slowly. Europe is temporarily unable to get rid of its security dependence on the US.
The US troop withdrawal from Germany has generally aroused European countries’ concerns about maintaining collective security in the region. However, the withdrawal has also led to different responses within Europe.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday that he hoped some of the US troops removed from Germany will be reassigned to Poland. Poland regards the US as the source of its security guarantee. Poland believes that Europe lacks the ability to achieve strategic autonomy, and that NATO is the main force to deal with threats from Russia. Poland’s attitude reflects the status quo of European defense integration – lacking the ability to coordinate different member states’ interests and mind-sets.
Trump also warned Germany in December that while it was coming along on increases in defense spending, he might take action related to trade with Europe if Merkel’s government didn’t do more to reach NATO members’ agreed goal of spending 2% of gross domestic product on their military.
Merkel’s defense minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said in November that Germany wouldn’t meet the NATO benchmark until 2031 because of a lack of military personnel.
Historically one of America’s most loyal allies, Germany is still home to the biggest U.S. contingent in Europe and hosts key overseas installations such as the Ramstein Air Base and the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
Ensuring the balance of power in Europe is one of US geo strategic goals.