The decision to reduce American troops in Europe, including those in Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, was the decision of the United States' military, which we respect, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said on Thursday.
He added that he had learned about this decision on Monday.
"This decision to reduce American troops in Europe, including those in Romania and Hungary and Slovakia, was a decision of the United States' military that we respect. In what context did this happen? As it is known by those who follow international defense strategies, the Trump Administration announced, immediately after its inauguration, that in this military field it is pursuing several priorities - those related to the security of the United States and on the migration side, we know what measures were taken there, those that mean moving the military center of gravity to the Asia-Pacific area in such a way that measures related to the geopolitical realities in that area are taken and the third measure, that the allies assume a greater share of their defense, in the sense that they bear a greater share of defense expenses and you know that this was agreed in June at the Hague Summit and also to assume a greater share of responsibility," Bolojan said on Antena 1.
He mentioned that, in practice, these days the American troops that were brought additionally to Europe after the invasion of Ukraine have been partially withdrawn.
"This decision was announced in general terms, that there would be a reduction of these troops in Europe, without specifying exactly where, what and how. On Monday, we were practically notified by the military attaché at the embassy in Washington, who was invited to the Pentagon and was announced. Also, our ambassador to NATO was informed by the American ambassador about these things and we were informed practically two days in advance, because it was considered that, when a briefing would be given to the committees of the House of Representatives on the defense side on Wednesday, there was a possibility that this information would leak. And then, the Ministry of Defense prepared a press conference for Wednesday, in order to announce these things. But the data leaked the evening before and these things appeared. (...) The troops of the allies, of the NATO partners, of the United States, are in Romania, the military bases are active and "all the security guarantees that are and have been given to Romania are in place, as was explicitly stated by the position of the American ambassador, who announced this to us at NATO. The important thing is that the European countries have each made a commitment to ensure, to a greater extent, their defense," Ilie Bolojan mentioned.
The Ministry of National Defense announced on Wednesday that it had been informed about the resizing of a part of the American troops deployed on NATO's Eastern Flank, as part of the process of reassessing the global posture of the US military forces.
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