The US is withdrawing some troops from Romania, on NATO’s japanese flank, because the Pentagon works to shift its focus away from Europe and towards homeland protection and Latin America, US and European officers mentioned on Wednesday.
The US is sending dwelling the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the a hundred and first Airborne Division again to Kentucky and won’t be changing the unit after its scheduled rotation out of Eastern Europe, in response to US Army Europe and Africa. The redeployment comes as japanese flank NATO international locations have confronted a spike in threats from Russia in latest weeks, together with a number of drone incursions in Polish airspace and repeated violations of Lithuanian airspace.
The Army mentioned the discount in troops is a part of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s “deliberate process to ensure a balanced U.S.
military force posture.”
“This is not an American withdrawal from Europe or a signal of lessened commitment to NATO and Article 5,” the Army press launch mentioned. “Rather this is a positive sign of increased European capability and responsibility. Our NATO allies are meeting President Trump’s call to take primary responsibility for the conventional defense of Europe. This force posture adjustment will not change the security environment in Europe.”
Romania’s Ministry of Defense mentioned in a separate assertion that it had “been informed about the withdrawal of some of the American troops deployed on NATO’s Eastern Flank, as part of the process of reassessing the global posture of US military forces.” The ministry added that “approximately one thousand American soldiers will remain deployed on our national territory.”
“The downsizing of the U.S. forces is an effect of the new priorities of the presidential administration,” the Romanian protection assertion mentioned.
The US troops might be pulled from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base on the Black Sea, simply throughout from Crimea which stays beneath de facto Russian management.
The withdrawal of some troops sparked uncommon GOP backlash to Pentagon resolution making, with Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and Republican Rep.
Mike Rogers saying in a joint assertion that the transfer “sends the wrong signal to Russia at the very moment President Trump is applying pressure to force Vladimir Putin to come to the table to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services committee, mentioned they “strongly oppose,” the choice and known as it “concerning that Congress was not consulted in advance of this decision.”
“We are seeking clarification from the Pentagon on how it plans to mitigate the impact of this decision on NATO’s deterrence and defense posture and whether they coordinated with Allies to minimize these consequences,” they added.
The US nonetheless has extra troops deployed in Europe than it did earlier than Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, NATO officers instructed NCS. But NATO protection planners are watching carefully to see whether or not the US strikes to additional downsize its presence there, since that may probably require that NATO rethink how allied troops are deployed throughout the continent, one of many officers mentioned.