At the same time, the Pentagon was assured that it was a possible rotational presence of American troops
The United States is considering options for relocating some of its troops from Germany to Bulgaria, Romania and the Baltic States as part of the announced relocation of American forces in Europe. A representative of the American military circles told TASS on Tuesday, explaining the statements of Pentagon Head Mark Esper about possible permanent relocation of the Second Armored Regiment of the US Army from Germany to another European country closer to Russia.
“As we noted in the July 29th announcement [on plans to redeploy troops to Europe], we intend to deploy U.S. forces on the eastern flank of NATO on a permanent, rotational basis to implement the guidelines set out by the Secretary of Defense [Esper]”, – said the military official.
“As the secretary noted [in his speech] at the Atlantic Council, the agreement to expand defense cooperation with Poland, recent bilateral interaction with the Romanian and Bulgarian defense ministers, and consultations with our allies in the Baltic States have enabled us to deploy our forces in these countries”, – he said.
According to the information he outlined, there are no final decisions on this issue yet.
“The process of planning the proposed steps is ongoing. This includes consultations with our allies and partners in the region, as well as members of Congress [USA]”, – said the military representative.
As Esper stressed earlier Tuesday in his address to the Atlantic Council, Washington is studying the possibility of permanently relocating the US Army’s Second Armoured Regiment from Germany to another country in Europe closer to Russia’s borders. The Minister did not bring any details.
On 29 July, the Head of the US Department of Defense announced the withdrawal of 11,900 soldiers from Germany. According to him, about 6,400 of them will return home, about 5,600 will be redeployed to Italy and Belgium, with a maximum of 25,000 American soldiers and officers remaining in Germany. The preparation of such plans was warned in mid-June by US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticised Germany for not spending enough money on maintaining NATO’s collective defence. In July, Esper spoke about the forthcoming withdrawal of the Second Armoured Regiment from Bavaria, which consists of almost 4,500 soldiers. He also claimed that this military unit would be returned to its home country.