Brussels [Belgium], May 3: NATO officials are coordinating with their US counterparts to ascertain the details of the withdrawal of some 5,000 members of the US military from their bases in Germany, an alliance spokeswoman said on Saturday.
"We are working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany," the spokeswoman posted on X.
"This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security - where we're already seeing progress since Allies agreed to invest 5% of GDP at the NATO Summit in The Hague last year," she added.
NATO remained confident in its ability to provide for deterrence and defence as this shift towards a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO continued, she said.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the pullback of around 5,000 US service members from bases in Germany. According to a Defense Department spokesman, the withdrawal is to be concluded within the next 12 months. The details remain unclear.
The decision follows a public spat between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after Merz accused the US of not having a strategy in the Iran war. The chancellor said the US was being humiliated in the war and did not have an exit plan.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Saturday stressed that the United States and Germany have shared military interests after the announcement that thousands of US service members would be withdrawn from bases across Germany.
"The presence of American troops in Europe, and particularly in Germany, lies in our interest and in the interest of the US," Pistorius told DPA.
On Saturday, Germany's Pistorius said the decision was not unexpected and had been "predictable." "We work closely together with the Americans - in Ramstein, in Grafenwohr, in Frankfurt and elsewhere - for peace and security in Europe, for Ukraine and for joint deterrence," Pistorius said. The US maintains its main airbase for Europe and Africa at Ramstein in south-western Germany.
He noted that the US maintained other military functions at its German bases for its security interests in Africa and the Middle East too.
Pistorius said it was evident that NATO had to become more European to remain trans-Atlantic. "We European must take on greater responsibility for our security," he said.
Pistorius said he would coordinate future military tasks with the Group of Five, comprising France, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom and Germany.
During his first term as president, Trump also threatened to reduce the number of US troops in Germany.
US military figures from April show some 86,000 US soldiers are currently stationed in Europe, including around 39,000 in Germany.
The number changes regularly, partly because of rotations and military exercises.
For decades, there have been dozens of major US military bases in Europe that are of enormous importance to US operations globally, including in the Middle East. Troops, weapons, ships and aircraft are stationed there, drones are controlled from the bases and wounded personnel are treated.
Source: Qatar Tribune
