America President Donald Trump wants to step up to the planned withdrawal of nearly 10,000 soldiers of the United States from Germany, among other things, the troops of his country in Poland. Trump justified the step in a press conference with the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda on Wednesday at the White house with the according to his view, a lack of defense spending in Germany.
Trump said that some of the soldiers from Germany should return to the United States. Other soldiers would be moved to other locations in Europe, and “Poland is one of these other places to be.” Trump said Poland had agreed to pay for the troops in the country. The presence in Germany will be reduced “very significantly”.
Trump and the unfortunate German
Trump criticized in the context, again, the Nord Stream Baltic sea Pipeline 2, the Gas from Russia to Germany bring. “Germany, Russia paid billions of dollars to buy energy from Russia to Europe through this Pipeline.” At the same time, Germany wanted to be by the United States against Russia defended. “I think that the people in Germany are very unhappy about it.” Trump said on Wednesday, once again, that the number of American soldiers should be reduced in Germany to 25,000. Currently over 34,500 soldiers are stationed in Germany.
With a partial withdrawal of troops Trump Germany wants to punish for, in his view, continue to be low defence expenditure. Representatives of the government in Warsaw have stressed since then that they wanted to increase the American military presence at the expense of Germany. The national-conservative PiS government in Warsaw would like to have for a Long time and more troops in their country – especially as a deterrent against Russia. The ideas extend to a permanent American military base in Poland, in the Polish Public, “continued Trump” is called. Yet soldiers are stationed there in the principle of rotation, according to the Polish government, currently, about 5000.
Trump pointed out that Poland belong to in addition to the United States, only eight Nato countries which met the Two-percent target of the Alliance. Germany will pay only a fraction of that. Trump spoke of “a little more than one percent,” but it could be, depending on the calculation – less than one percent. The Two-percent target of the Nato States that all allies are closer to 2024 is the target, at least two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) for defense spending. Germany has increased expenditure significantly in the past years, but in 2019, however, only when a proportion of GDP by 1.38 percent.
