Senior US military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, a month ago. The US has informed Nato allies it is withdrawing some troops from Europe’s eastern flank. Photo / Getty Images
The United States has informed Nato allies it is withdrawing some troops from Europe’s eastern flank, as America’s longtime partners nervously await decisions on a broader US military drawdown.
Romania’s Defence Ministry said today that the US will cease the rotation of a brigade that had troops in several European countries, including at an air base in Romania serving as a Nato hub on the Black Sea.
US Army Europe confirmed the move, describing it as part of a “deliberate process to ensure a balanced US military force posture”. The statement said the combat brigade would return “to their Kentucky-based home unit without replacement”.
“This is not an American withdrawal from Europe or a signal of lessened commitment to Nato,” it added. “Rather this is a positive sign of increased European capability and responsibility.”
It is the first announcement of the Trump Administration’s plans to scale back forces in Europe, where the US military umbrella has underpinned security since World War II.
More than 1700 U.S. military personnel were deployed in Romania as of April.
Officials there did not specify how many would now be withdrawn. The ministry said about 1000 American forces would remain and continue to “represent a guarantee of the US commitment to regional security”.
The American brigade being pulled, which was nearing the end of its deployment, numbers about 3000 troops, according to two people familiar with the issue, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity. The brigade had troops in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia, Romanian Defence Minister Ionut Mosteanu said.
America’s traditional allies have fretted about a US military pullback since President Donald Trump’s Administration took office this year and made clear its intentions to shift assets from the continent.
The Trump Administration says European nations should take greater control of their own defences, and the President has secured promises from Nato members to spend drastically more on their militaries.
The messaging has also left some countries confused about what commitments the US will keep, with fears particularly acute in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, which are near Russia and Ukraine’s borders.
The Pentagon is in the final stages of publishing a new defence strategy that will deprioritise Europe and Africa in favour of the US homeland and to a lesser extent Asia, the Washington Post has reported.
The Pentagon has yet to detail the extent or timeline of any possible changes. Three Nato diplomats said that the review was previously expected this month but has been delayed.
Nato officials say they are co-ordinating closely with the Administration. European powers including France and Britain have worked to persuade Washington that any plans to pull forces should involve a discussion and allow time to fill gaps.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the alliance sought to downplay the impact of US posture changes, while arguing that Nato and Washington are “in close contact” about the balance of forces on the continent. “The US commitment to Nato is clear,” the statement said.
However, Trump’s dizzying foreign policy moves, as he seeks to broker a deal between Ukraine and Russia, have triggered existential questions about the transatlantic relationship and a European scramble to find billions of euros for a military build-up.
European leaders have also sought to keep American presence in Europe off the table in any US negotiations with the Kremlin, which has made demands on Nato posture beyond Ukraine.
Despite the European concerns, however, Trump said last month that Washington could increase its military presence in Poland. The US has more-powerful brigades deployed on the continent than the one being pulled from Romania, including in Poland.
US troop levels in Europe have declined since the end of the Cold War, except for a rebound early in the Ukraine war.
The US has had between 75,000 to 105,000 troops on the continent since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Romanian defence minister said the withdrawal of a brigade - seen as a show of force in one of Nato’s most exposed regions - reflects the US shift “toward the Indo-Pacific”. He said, however, that troop levels would remain above those before the Ukraine invasion.
“This is not as bad as it could have been [but] we don’t know what force posture changes are yet to come,” said Torrey Taussig, who helped direct Europe policy on the Biden administration’s National Security Council.
She argued that the reductions would undercut the US campaign to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine, just as Trump is escalating pressure on the Kremlin, including with new sanctions on Russian oil firms. “This, if anything, just alleviates pressure,” said Taussig, who now works at the Atlantic Council.
Still, European diplomats have said that they expected a withdrawal of the surge of about 20,000 US troops announced by the Biden administration early in the Ukraine war.
By removing one of the brigades in Eastern Europe, the Trump Administration is returning US posture on the continent closer to levels that existed before the war.
Several Nato diplomats said they see such a reduction as a welcome sign that Trump isn’t poised to make far more extensive cuts, and they believe the Pentagon’s review will bring less dramatic changes than they had feared.
Before leaving office, the Biden administration also considered withdrawing such a brigade, given the expense of hosting the troops so far from US soil, former officials said.
The Republican chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees issued a rare public statement denouncing the Pentagon’s announcement and arguing it ignored lawmakers’ intent.
“Unfortunately, the Pentagon’s decision appears unco-ordinated and directly at odds with the President’s strategy,” wrote Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and Representative Mike Rogers (R-Alabama).
Both versions of the National Defence Authorisation Act - Congress’ must-pass defence policy bill - require the Pentagon to consult with Capitol Hill before making major cuts to the US posture in Europe. The bills are being reconciled ahead of a final vote later this northern autumn.
“It is concerning that Congress was not consulted in advance,” the lawmakers wrote, noting that they were seeking more information from the Pentagon.
Senator Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), the Republican chair of the Senate panel on defence spending and a frequent critic of the Trump Pentagon, was even sharper.
“If you have to say it’s not ‘a signal of lessened commitment,’ then it probably is,” McConnell said in a statement.
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