Statements by the US President Donald Trump to reduce the number of the US military in Germany are designed to support his potential voters in future elections, all the words and actions of the president are now “aimed at November”, Vladimir Batyuk, chief researcher at the US and Canada Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said.
Earlier, Trump promised to reduce the number of the US troops in Germany to 25 thousand people. In addition, Trump was indignant that “Germany pays Russia billions of dollars for energy, and the United States must protect them from Russia”. Currently, 34.5 thousand US troops are stationed in Germany.
“This troop withdrawal is quite possible. I would not rule out such a development of events, as President Trump announced this. The main thing is that this position of President Trump (no more ensuring safety of states that themselves don’t want to ensure security) is very understandable and pleasant for Trump’s nuclear electorate. After all, all the statements and actions that the American president is making now are aimed at November, you need to understand this. This statement is designed to support potential voters”, – he told the reporters.
He added that over the past 30 years, the US military contingent in Germany has declined several times.
“So this happened with all of Trump’s predecessors. Trump does nothing fundamentally new here, it’s another matter that he gives it all as a punishment to Germany for trading with Russia”, – the expert noted.
According to Batyuk, it is difficult to say whether Trump’s words about the withdrawal of troops will affect the position of Germany. According to him, the presence of American troops in the country is not perceived by the Germans as something that helps to strengthen security or increase international status.
“If these American troops were transferred to Poland, the reaction there would be completely different. The Germans have a neutral attitude towards the presence of American troops. At the same time, you need to understand that foreign troops in the territory of any state are practically unlimited opportunities for foreign intelligence to operate in this country, which can use extraterritorial military bases in this country and thereby completely neutralize the effect of local counterintelligence. So this is not the case when the Americans could exert some kind of pressure. Some American economic sanctions would be much more serious for the Germans”, – the expert concluded.