Rutte: US Troops Reduction in Europe to Start "Immediately"

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the immediate start of the reduction in the number of American troops stationed in Europe, BelTA reports.

"We must clearly understand that NATO's force configuration is a planning tool. What the US announced, and NATO knew it would happen, is that the US must operate in multiple theaters and must not disperse its resources. It was announced earlier that they would slightly reduce their participation in NATO's force configuration in Europe. The question that was asked yesterday [during the G7 summit in France – Ed.] was whether this will happen immediately. And yes, it will happen immediately," Rutte told media representatives before a meeting of the alliance's defense ministers.

The NATO Secretary General expressed hope that "if war breaks out and Article 5 is invoked," then "all NATO countries, including the United States, will do everything possible to ensure NATO can fight a war."

EUobserver previously reported that NATO's very existence is now at stake. The White House's position on troop deployment and combat readiness "exposes Europe's strategic vulnerability."

Furthermore, the situation is complicated by the domestic political weaknesses of major European states such as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. These problems lead to destructive caution and timidity in decision-making, rendering NATO's governance process "suicidally sluggish."