Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that Nato is 'disintegrating' following the United States' announcement that it will withdraw thousands of troops from Germany. In a social media post, Tusk said: 'The greatest threat to the transatlantic community are not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance. We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend.'
The US plans to pull around 5,000 troops out of Germany over the next six to 12 months. While former President Donald Trump had long called for a reduced military presence in Germany, the downsizing was accelerated after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the US was being 'humiliated' during negotiations with Iran. Trump responded on Truth Social, urging Scholz to focus on ending the war in Ukraine and 'his broken Country' rather than interfering with negotiations.
A senior Pentagon official, speaking anonymously, said recent German rhetoric had been 'inappropriate and unhelpful', adding that 'the president is rightly reacting to these counterproductive remarks'. The decision also scraps a Biden-era plan to deploy a US battalion with long-range Tomahawk missiles to Germany, a blow to Berlin which had sought the move as a deterrent against Russia.
Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius played down the impact, saying the partial withdrawal was expected and would affect a current US presence of almost 40,000 soldiers. 'We Europeans must take on more responsibility for our own security,' he said, adding that Germany is 'on the right track' by expanding its armed forces and speeding up military procurement.
Germany hosts the largest US military base in Europe, with more than 35,000 active-duty personnel. The Pentagon has not specified which bases will be affected, nor whether the troops will return to the US or be redeployed within Europe. A Nato spokesperson said the alliance is working with the US to understand the details of the decision.
