The Romanian Ministry of Defence announced on Wednesday 29 October that the United States had informed Romania and its other allies that it would be reducing some of its troops deployed on Europe’s Eastern Front.
“The American decision is to cease the rotation of a brigade in Europe that had elements in several NATO countries”, including Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, the ministry said in a statement. According to Defence Minister Ionut Mosteanu, around 1,000 American troops will remain deployed in Romania, contributing to “the deterrence of any threats and will represent a guarantee of the US commitment to regional security”.
“The decision also took into account the fact that NATO had strengthened its presence and activity on the Eastern Flank, which allows the United States to adjust its military posture in the region”, the Romanian ministry added.
In response, the US military clarified that the reduced US presence was not “an American withdrawal from Europe or a sign of reduced commitment to NATO and Article 5”. “Our strong presence and unwavering commitment to Europe remain constant, in particular through our support for Operation Eastern Sentry”, promised the American ambassador to NATO, Matt Whitaker.
A NATO source said that the adjustments to the US military posture were “not unusual”. According to this source, even with this adjustment, the US military presence in Europe remains larger than it has been for many years, “with many more US forces on the continent than before 2022”.
“NATO and US authorities are in close contact about our overall posture – to ensure NATO retains our robust capacity to deter and defend, and the US authorities informed NATO of this adjustment in advance”, the source said.
European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said that the EU was taking note of this announcement, which does not change the EU’s plans for implementing Eastern Flank Watch. “We want to launch the project by the first quarter of 2026, and by the end of 2026 we want the first surveillance services to be operational”, he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)