NATO members begging US to U-turn on troop numbers – Bloomberg
NATO members in Europe are pressing Washington to maintain its troop presence in the region, stressing that November drills in Romania highlighted European countries’ dependence on US support, Bloomberg has reported.
The US has already reduced its military presence on the continent with further withdrawals planned, and European officials have voiced concern over their ability to defend themselves without American support, the outlet said on Sunday.
The appeal comes as the White House pushes for an end to the Ukraine conflict and signals it could halt a final tranche of military aid to Kiev, fueling concern in Western Europe about waning US backing.
The NATO exercises ran from October 20 to November 13 and involved more than 5,000 Romanian troops alongside personnel from nine other NATO members – Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.
Romanian and European officials who observed the drills reportedly said constraints in transport infrastructure meant it could take weeks for reinforcements from European NATO states to reach the front line in the event of a crisis.
Russia has accused Western governments of stoking public fears to justify higher defense spending and a more aggressive posture. Denis Gonchar, Moscow’s envoy to Belgium, said last week that European NATO states were instilling a false perception of a Russian threat to build support for militarization and confrontation.
Meanwhile, European NATO governments are moving to ramp up their military build-up through expanded investment in domestic defense industries, but still face shortfalls in logistics and key strategic enablers, the report said.
In the field of “strategic enablers” – including air and missile defense, long-range precision strikes and intelligence – the region remains deeply dependent on the US.
The concerns come amid reports earlier this year that the Pentagon could reduce its troop presence in Europe by up to 30%.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban last week accused the EU of “still plotting war” while “everyone else” is striving for peace, saying the bloc is deliberately stalling Russian and US efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict. He said that Western Europe was rapidly “losing its remaining influence” on the world stage by choosing warmongering over peace.