EU trying to persuade US not to withdraw troops from Europe — Bloomberg
Photo: The European Union is trying to persuade the US not to withdraw its troops from Europe (wikipedia.org)
European officials are trying to convince the administration of US President Donald Trump to reconsider its decision to reduce the American military presence in Europe, Bloomberg reports.
November NATO exercises in Romania demonstrated European countries' dependence on American support.
During maneuvers in the Cincu area, located 260 km from Bucharest, European troops under French command practiced defending the Carpathian borders.
However, according to participants' estimates, due to problems with transport infrastructure, reinforcements may arrive at the front line in several weeks, leaving Romanian forces face to face with a hypothetical enemy, Bloomberg reports.
Background
Earlier, the United States began a large-scale reduction of its military presence in Eastern Europe. In particular, about 800 American troops are being withdrawn from Romania, and there are plans to reduce the contingent in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Hungary.
On October 27, NATO's official procedures confirmed the decision to withdraw some American forces from Romania. Currently, US units are stationed at bases in Mihail Kogălniceanu, Deveselu, and Câmpia Turzii, but it is not yet clear which of them will be affected by the reduction.
At the same time, Poland has stated that it has not yet received any official information regarding a possible reduction in the number of US troops on its territory.
At the beginning of the year, US President Donald Trump said he wanted to reduce the American military contingent in Europe by 20%.
Europeans fear that they will not be warned and will learn from the media that thousands of American troops are being withdrawn from the continent.
