European leaders have said Donald Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of US troops out of Germany is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.
The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull 5,000 troops out of Germany, and Trump told reporters he plans to ‘cut a lot further’.
He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but it appears to be linked to his anger over European allies’ reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.
The move comes after years of warnings from experts that Europe needs to beef up its own security and stop relying on the United States for help.
Keir Giles, a Russian expert at Chatham House, previously told Metro that if the US were to suddenly withdraw military support, Europe would be ‘severely lacking’ in defensive capabilities, leaving it open to attack.
‘Europe is not in a position to replace the United States in terms of defence, and it will take some time to do so, even if it were to start applying effort in a way we haven’t seen so far,’ he said.
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The main worry experts have about US security leaving isn’t threats from the Middle East, however – it’s from Russia.
He adds: ‘To preserve European security, Europe simply needs to be more powerful than Russia in key areas that would deter Moscow. The entirety of Europe is a frontline area as far as Russia is concerned.’
Russian-born UK citizen and former BBC journalist Sergei Cristo told Metro there are hard military components NATO needs to improve, but pointed out that Europe is not doing enough to battle Russian hybrid warfare.
‘Russian military strategy is currently based on the Gerasimov Doctrine, which basically says that “concealed means of war”- which include political interference, taking control of hostile countries through intelligence operations, and interference in elections – are more important than military action,’ Cristo said.
‘Personally, I don’t think NATO is ready,’ he added.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said this week: ‘There has been talk about withdrawal of US troops for a long time from Europe. But of course, the timing of this announcement comes as a surprise.
‘I think it shows that we have to really strengthen the European pillar in NATO.’
Over the weekend, Nato spokeswoman Allison Hart said officials at the 32-nation military alliance ‘are working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany’.
European allies and Canada have known since just after he came to office again last year that Trump would pull troops out of Europe, but US officials had pledged to coordinate any moves with their Nato allies to avoid creating a security vacuum.
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte played down the move, saying ‘there has been at this point disappointment on the US side’ about European support for the war on Iran.
France, Spain and the UK have declined to give US forces free rein to use bases on their territory to attack Iran. Spain has denied them the use of its airspace and bases there for the war.
In another sign of friction, Trump has accused the EU of not complying with its US trade deal and announced plans to increase tariffs next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25%, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany.
Without mentioning Trump or the US, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen listed recent trade deals that the bloc has sealed with Australia and India, and is now working on with Mexico.
‘With like-minded friends, you have stable, reliable supply chains and Europe has the biggest network of free trade agreements,’ she said.
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