WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com – The US Military revealed plans of withdrawing 12,000 troops from Germany while maintaining half of the US troops in Europe.
The decision was announced on Wednesday following a decision by President Donald Trump. The remaining US troops stationed in Europe served to address tension with Russia.
In June, President Donald Trump expressed his intention to reduce the number of US troops in Germany from 36,000 to 25,000.
The American President laid blame on Germany for not meeting NATO’s defense spending target.
President Donald Trump also accused the EU member-state of taking advantage of the US on trade.
On those bases, the US President made the call to reduce the number of US Military personnel in Germany.
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"We don't want to be the suckers anymore," Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday about the decision.
"We're reducing the force because they're not paying their bills; it's very simple." stated the US President.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper has not portrayed the pullout in those terms and said the military's plan would prevent the troop movements from undermining NATO and its efforts to deter Russian intervention, following Moscow's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.