NATO issued statement after United Stated decided to withdraw its troops from Germany.
According to Al Jazeera, NATO says it is assessing the details of the US decision to pull about 5,000 troops from a key partner in the Western security alliance, amid tensions over the war on Iran.
In a statement on Saturday, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said the bloc is “working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany”, a process the US Pentagon estimates will unfold over the next six to 12 months.
The planned drawback comes as US President Donald Trump feuds with European allies for not doing more to assist in the US-Israel war against Iran.
He has voiced particular ire at Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who recently said the US was being “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership.
Trump responded by urging Merz to stop “interfering” over Iran and spend more time “fixing his broken country”.
The US president has also called NATO a “paper tiger” and “absolutely useless.”
Reacting to the US announcement, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany had anticipated a US drawback and that Europeans must take greater responsibility for their own security.
“Germany is on the right track” in this regard, Pistorius said, pointing to the expansion of its armed forces, the greater and faster procurement of equipment and the construction of infrastructure.
NATO’s Hart echoed that view, saying the US decision “underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security.”
“We remain confident in our ability to provide for our deterrence and defence as this shift towards a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO continues,” she added.
Germany is home to some 35,000 active-duty US military personnel, more than anywhere else in Europe.
