US troop drawback underlines European defence responsibility, German minister says

BERLIN, May 2 (Reuters) – Europeans must take greater responsibility for their own security, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday in response to the announcement of U.S. plans to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany.

“Germany is on the right track” in this regard, Pistorius said, pointing to the expansion of its Bundeswehr armed forces, greater and faster procurement of equipment and the construction of infrastructure.

The Pentagon announced on Friday that the U.S. would withdraw 5,000 military personnel from NATO ally Germany.

Pistorius put the current number of U.S. troops stationed in Germany at “almost 40,000”.

In response to heavy criticism from Washington over defence spending, European NATO members, including Germany, have pledged to take on more responsibility for their own defence.

But with tight budgets and vast military capability gaps it will take years for the region to meet its own security needs.

“The presence of American soldiers in Europe, and especially in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the United States,” Pistorius said.

Still, it was “foreseeable that the U.S. would withdraw troops from Europe, including Germany”, he added.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Rachel More; editing by James Mackenzie)