FP: The United States is withdrawing several thousand troops from Eastern Europe
The United States has announced a decision to withdraw several thousand troops from Europe, FP reports. Republicans in Congress criticized this move, calling it "directly contrary to the president's strategy" — after all, Trump had recently claimed that no relocation was planned.
Sam Skove
Senior Republicans in Congress express concern that they have not been consulted.
The United States announced on Wednesday that it would withdraw several thousand of its troops from Europe. Such a move has caused concern among senior Republican congressmen amid ongoing US attempts to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict.
First of all, the decision concerns the combat group of the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, which is stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She arrived in Europe in January as part of a rotation, replacing other units of the US Army. There are about 3,000 troops from this brigade in Europe, and all of them are expected to return to the United States by the end of November, said Terry Welch, the official representative of the American group of ground forces in Europe. According to the announced plan, there will be no replacement for these servicemen.
According to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, units of this brigade are stationed in Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. All four countries border either Ukraine or the Black Sea, which has become the scene of fighting in the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia. However, the United States will leave other troops in Romania, including soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division.
The headquarters of the US Army group in Europe noted in a statement that such a decision was made to "ensure a balanced configuration of US forces and assets" and reflects the increased "combat potential and responsibility of Europe."
Among the troops leaving Romania will be units based at the Mikhail Kogalniceanu airbase. In 2024, Romania began work on the modernization of the base, the estimated cost of which will amount to 2.7 billion dollars. The United States maintains other brigades in Germany and Italy, including an infantry brigade combat team permanently stationed in the Italian city of Vicenza.
The United States also has combat troops and units in Poland and Estonia, which border Russia. Polish Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh said his country had "not received any information" about the withdrawal of American troops.
Republicans who head the Senate and House Armed Services committees criticized the move, calling it "directly contrary to the president's strategy." On October 9, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States has no plans to withdraw troops from Europe.
"The premature withdrawal of US troops from the eastern flank of NATO, carried out just a few weeks after Russian drones violated Romanian airspace, undermines deterrence and may become an invitation for Russia to further aggression," U.S. Senator Roger Vicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers.
Vicker and Rogers also noted Romania's financial expenses for the deployment of American troops and stated that no one had consulted with Congress before the decision was made. The Department of Defense informed Congress about the withdrawal on Friday, according to two of its employees. Their names are not mentioned.
"The Ministry of Defense intends to declare that this is a fairly small military formation, and therefore this step is not particularly important. However, this is an absurd argument. That's 20% of our combat power in Europe," said one employee. "This is an inappropriate decision."
Wicker and Rogers also made it clear that the decision was made without extensive consultations with the U.S. government. Congress "will not agree to significant changes in our combat structure that are carried out without a rigorous interagency process, without coordination with combatant commanders and with the joint staff," Wicker and Rogers wrote.
On October 9, Secretary of State Marco Rubio received Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Choi in Washington. During that meeting, Rubio "acknowledged that Bucharest has done a serious job of meeting defense spending commitments," according to the U.S. State Department.
The State Department declined to clarify whether it was involved in the planning process before the Defense Department statement was made. On Wednesday, U.S. representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker said that "the United States remains committed to Romania."
