NATO Officer Says No Further U.S. Troop Cuts Expected Soon

NATO’s top military officer said Tuesday that he does not expect any more drawdowns of American troops from Europe beyond the 5,000 already announced. The remarks came during a meeting of top officers from the 32-nation alliance at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

The officer stated that the reductions will occur through canceled future deployments rather than the removal of forces already stationed on the continent. Some 4,000 troops from the Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team will no longer deploy to Poland as planned, and the deployment to Germany of around 1,000 personnel trained to fire long-range rockets and missiles has been halted.

Much of the operational detail remains under review.

The officer said he spoke earlier in the day with military chiefs from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland about options for positioning capabilities along the eastern flank. He insisted that security in Europe would not be compromised by the current changes.

The officer added that European allies should expect further adjustments over the long term as they increase their own defense contributions.

“It will be 5,000 troops coming out of Europe,” the officer told reporters. ” “Over the long term, we absolutely should expect additional redeployments as Europe continues to build capability and capacity and step up to provide more of the conventional defense of Europe,” the officer said.

The number of troops affected remains small compared to the roughly 80,000 U.S. personnel estimated to be stationed in Europe. The officer said the alliance would stay synchronized with allies during the process.