The US military is reducing the number of troops it has stationed in Romania, scaling back Nato’s deployment to countries along Europe’s eastern border with Ukraine, US and Romanian officials have announced.
In a statement on Wednesday, the US army said that the 2nd Infantry Brigade combat team of the 101st Airborne division would redeploy to its home-based unit in Kentucky “without replacement” as part of a plan to “ensure a balanced US military force posture”.
It was the first official acknowledgment from the United States of plans to scale down its footprint in Europe. The Trump administration has indicated that it is planning to prioritise its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region in order to combat the growing threat from China, as well as to focus on its own borders and priorities in the western hemisphere.
Roughly 4,000 troops had been deployed to Romania in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and were sent in part to reassure allies worried about the potential for Russia’s aggression to extend into Nato’s eastern flank.
But the White House’s priorities have shifted under the new administration, with calls on European allies to invest more in their own defense in order to free up US resources for other military zones.
Earlier, the Romanian ministry of national defense said that the country and its allies had been informed of the US decision to “downsize American troops in Europe”.
In a statement, the ministry called the move a “withdrawal of some of the American troops deployed on Nato’s Eastern Flank, as part of the process of reassessing the global posture of US military forces”.
The redeployment would reduce the number of US troops stationed in Romania to roughly 1,000, the ministry said, and would affect troops stationed at the Mihail Kogălniceanu airbase, an important logistics and training hub for Nato troops in south-east Europe. Previously, the number was reported to be about 1,700 troops. The troops were part of a first line of defense if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were to extend further west.
The decision has sparked rare criticism from congressional allies of Donald Trump, who attacked the Pentagon for announcing the policy without consulting with military commanders or lawmakers.
In a rare joint statement, the Republican leadership of the House and Senate armed services committees condemned the decision to withdraw troops from Romania, saying that it “undermines deterrence and risks inviting further Russian aggression”.
“This decision also sends the wrong signal to Russia at the very moment President Trump is applying pressure to force Vladimir Putin to come to the table to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine,” the statement by Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate armed services committee, and Mike Rogers, chair of the House armed services committee, read.
“The president has it exactly right: now is the time for America to demonstrate our resolve against Russian aggression. Unfortunately, the Pentagon’s decision appears uncoordinated and directly at odds with the president’s strategy.”
It came, they noted, just weeks after Russian drones violated Romanian airspace.
European officials projected calm about the intended withdrawal, calling it “expected” as part of a review by the Pentagon that had signalled plans to rotate troops out of Europe.
During a news conference, the defense minister Ionuț Moșteanu said that the US brigade had troops stationed in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia. He said that 3,500 Nato troops, including from the US, would remain stationed in Romania.
“It is enough for our needs,” Moșteanu said, according to Reuters. “The expectation of having entire foreign armies here to defend us is unrealistic. We will continue to invest in the Romanian army.”
The ministry called the decision “expected, as Romania is in permanent contact with its American strategic partner”.
But it comes at a time when European allies are concerned about Nato’s continued commitment to restraining Russia, which has been waging a full-scale invasion against Ukraine on Nato’s eastern flank since February of 2022.
“This is not an American withdrawal from Europe or a signal of lessened commitment to Nato and article 5,” the US army said in a statement. “Rather this is a positive sign of increased European capability and responsibility. Our Nato allies are meeting President Trump’s call to take primary responsibility for the conventional defense of Europe. This force posture adjustment will not change the security environment in Europe.”
Leaders along Nato’s eastern flank have lobbied the Trump administration not to reduce troop numbers in countries close to Russia, including in Poland and the Baltic countries, where fears of Russian aggression and destabilisation efforts are highest.
Last month, about 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace in an incursion that prompted Nato to scramble jets to shoot them down.
Officials in Poland and Lithuania have said that they don’t expect the US to draw down troops levels there.
During a meeting with Polish president Karol Nawrocki last month, Trump told reporters that he was planning to maintain current US troops levels in Poland.
“If anything, we can put more there, if they want. They’ve long wanted to have a larger presence,” Trump said.
“We have some countries that have more, not too many, but no, they will be staying in Poland,” he added. “We are very much aligned with Poland.”
