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Many saw it as an election campaign maneuver when Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of American soldiers from Germany. The operation should start quickly. But so far nothing has happened.
The planned withdrawal of about a third of US soldiers from Germany has not started more than four months after the announcement by US President Donald Trump. The command center of the US armed forces in Europe (Eucom) in Stuttgart informed the German Press Agency that the preparation still needed time. “Planning is done at the highest level and takes many considerations into account. This will take time,” the written response reads. Soldiers would be kept informed of the plans. “At this time, we have no further details to offer and we cannot speculate on the schedules.”
The Federal Government’s Transatlantic Relations Coordinator, Peter Beyer (CDU), also confirmed that the withdrawal has not yet started. “As far as I know, the US Army in Germany has not yet received specific orders on the detailed implementation of the troop reduction,” he told dpa.
Some weeks turn into months
At least the first soldiers were originally expected to withdraw before the November 3 US presidential election. Trump had announced the withdrawal of a large chunk of the roughly 36,000 US troops in Germany on June 15 and justified it with what he saw as Germany’s defense spending.
Six weeks later, Trump’s Defense Secretary Mark Esper presented the details of the troop withdrawal, making it clear that the plans should be implemented “as soon as possible.” The first soldiers were able to leave the country “in a few weeks.” Now it has become months.
One third of the American soldiers will be withdrawn.
A total of around 12,000 of the 36,000 soldiers stationed in Germany will be withdrawn, that is, a third. A good half will be returned to the United States, 5,600 will move to other NATO countries. Three locations in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate are particularly affected:
- STUTTGART: The two command centers for US troops in Europe and Africa will move from the capital of Baden-Württemberg to Mons in Belgium.
- VILSECK: 4,500 soldiers will be brought to the United States from the Bavarian location in the huge Grafenwöhr military training area in Upper Palatinate.
- SPANGDAHLEM: A squad with around 20 F16 fighter jets, including crew, mechanics and support personnel, will relocate from the Eifel air force base in Rhineland-Palatinate to Italy.
No instructions so far
In Berlin, too, the first steps towards troop withdrawal were firmly expected to take place before the elections. However, the federal government was barely included in the planning by the American allies from the beginning. Last week, the Defense Ministry responded to a parliamentary question from left-wing MP Alexander Neu if he was aware of the troop relocations that had already taken place or were planned for the next few months with the short sentence: “The Federal Government does not has relevant findings. “
But even if there is already an approximate or specific timeline for the first steps in withdrawal, it could be thrown overboard again, depending on the outcome of the elections. This is what the federal government expects in the event that Trump loses the election. “I definitely see an opportunity with President Biden for this matter to be reviewed,” says CDU / CSU parliamentary group lead deputy Johann Wadephul.
A “fatal mistake”
He points to the considerable resistance in the US Senate against the retirement plans, and not just among Biden Democrats. Republican Senator Mitt Romney, for example, called Trump’s plans a “serious mistake.” “It’s a slap in the face from a friend and ally.”
Still, the US military is skeptical of the plans. The former commander of US forces in Europe, Ben Hodges, called it a “colossal mistake.” The decision has a purely political motivation and does not follow any strategy.
Transatlantic coordinator Beyer still does not believe that the plans will be completely reduced if Trump is defeated: “I am convinced that the problem will remain with us even if Joe Biden wins the election,” he says. “Even Biden wouldn’t completely stop the troop reduction.”
