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From Europe to the Pacific: US May Withdraw Thousands of Troops in Strategic Shift
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
The United States is considering reducing its military footprint in Europe by up to 30% as part of a global reassessment of force posture, a senior NATO official told Politico on July 28.
Currently, between 90,000 and 100,000 US troops are stationed across Europe. Approximately 20,000 of them were deployed under President Joe Biden following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to international relations expert Aylin Matlé.
The largest American contingent is based in Germany, which hosts about 35,000 US personnel.
Key installations include Ramstein Air Base, a central hub for US air operations; Grafenwöhr, the largest American training ground outside the United States; and the US Army’s Europe and Africa headquarters in Wiesbaden.
Matlé emphasized that the American military presence in Europe serves both European and US broader strategic interests
“Bases like Ramstein are not only about defending Europe — they’re about projecting power into the Middle East and, to some extent, Africa,” she said.
She also noted that the US often uses its European bases to route military equipment to other global regions.
According to Politico, a final decision on the potential troop reduction will come after the Pentagon releases its Global Posture Review in September.
The reassessment would reflect shifting US strategic priorities—particularly the growing need to strengthen forces in the Indo-Pacific region, the outlet noted.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signaled this shift as early as February, stating that Washington cannot remain the long-term guarantor of European security. During a visit to Poland, he urged European nations to ramp up defense spending, “because you cannot assume America’s presence will last forever.”
Earlier, reports emerged that North Korea reportedly prepared to send additional troops to Russia as early as August 2025 in a move that could further deepen its military cooperation with Moscow during the ongoing war in Ukraine.
