FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) attends the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Hearings to examine the implementation of Title I of the CARES Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA 10 de June 2020. Kevin Dietsch / Pool via REUTERS
BERLIN (Reuters) – The prime ministers of four German states called on members of the United States Congress to block plans to withdraw US troops from Germany, according to letters seen by Reuters on Sunday.
President Donald Trump said last month that he would reduce the number of US troops in Germany from 9,500 to 25,000, blaming the NATO member for failing to meet the defense spending target of the North Atlantic alliance and accusing him of taking advantage of US states. United in trade.
The prime ministers of the four southern states, which host US bases, addressed the letters to 13 members of Congress, including Senators Mitt Romney and Jim Inhofe.
“We therefore ask you to support us as we strive not to break the bond of friendship, but to strengthen it and ensure the presence of the United States in Germany and Europe in the future,” wrote the Prime Ministers of Bavaria. , Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate.
A spokesman for the United States Embassy in Berlin declined to comment. Last month, Washington said the measure “will improve Russian deterrence, strengthen NATO, reassure allies.”
But prime ministers wrote that American forces in their states “form the backbone of the American presence in Europe and NATO’s ability to act.”
Report by Markus Wacker; additional reporting and writing by Tom Sims in Frankfurt; Editing by Kevin Liffey
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