Now that NATO’s eastern flank has been strengthened, the US will withdraw troops from Romania

The United States will withdraw hundreds of troops from Romania reports the Romanian Ministry of Defense Wednesday. About a thousand remaining American soldiers remain stationed at the air base called Mihail Kogălniceanu, an important component in NATO’s eastern flank due to its strategic location on the Black Sea. There were at least 1,800.

It is the first time that a NATO member state has acknowledged that the Americans are removing soldiers from Europe. President Donald Trump’s administration announced in February that the defense of Europe is no longer a priority for the US. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Europeans should take care of their own conventional defense. The statements sent a shock wave through Europe and led to European member states supporting a new NATO standard of 3.5 percent.

Eastern flank recently reinforced

According to the Romanian ministry, the Americans took the decision to withdraw soldiers partly because NATO has recently reinforced its eastern flank as a result of Russian violations of Polish airspace. Under the name Eastern Sentry (Eastern Sentinel), an additional line of defense is being set up to which European member states will contribute with additional material. Shortly after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO also strengthened the eastern flank.

According to the English-language Romanian newspaper The Romania Journal the Americans will also bring back soldiers from Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia. That hasn’t been confirmed yet.

The Americans assured on Wednesday afternoon that they remain present in Europe and are also fully committed to NATO’s Article 5, which requires that an attack on one member state be treated as an attack on all member states. In recent years, the number of American soldiers on European soil has fluctuated between 80,000 and 100,000.

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