London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Berlin says US ‘weakening NATO’ & shooting itself in the foot as 12,000 troops set to withdraw from Germany

Berlin says US ‘weakening NATO’ & shooting itself in the foot as 12,000 troops set to withdraw from Germany

The planned US troop withdrawal from Germany will not help Washington advance its goals in Europe but will do exactly the opposite, the head of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee has warned.
“Instead of strengthening NATO, the troops’ withdrawal will weaken the Alliance,” Norbert Roettgen, an MP from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, told Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung. “The effectiveness of the US military will not increase, but will be reduced, particularly when it comes to Russia and ongoing military conflicts in the Near and Middle East.”

Such an outburst of criticism was sparked by Washington’s decision to pull out additional forces from the territory of its NATO ally. Initially the US planned to withdraw some 9,500 personnel but this figure has recently grown to almost 12,000 – a development that apparently sparked particular concerns in Berlin, which was not amused by the move from the very beginning.

Earlier, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that the pull-out would promote America’s “strategic goals” like deterrence of Russia or showing support to its allies in Europe. President Donald Trump mostly justified the move by accusing Germany of not spending enough on defense and thus violating its NATO commitments. “We’re reducing the force because they’re not paying their bills. It’s very simple. They’re delinquent,” the president said, in one of his latest comments on the issue.

The German politicians believe such steps would strain relations between the two nations. "We very much regret the U.S. government's decision. Unfortunately, this puts a burden on the German-American relationship," said Markus Soeder, the Bavarian Prime Minister and the leader of Merkel’s allies – the Christian Social Union. "We are now waiting to see if the decision will last.”

Roettgen, meanwhile, believes that Washington is virtually shooting itself in the foot by moving the troops – and the US European Command headquarters and Special Operations Command Europe – from Germany.

“US soldiers do make a contribution to Germany's security, but Germany primarily serves the US as a logistic hub for its own international military presence,” he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×