Central European Allies Downplay US Troop Pullout, Stress NATO's Strength

PRAGUE — U.S. allies in Central Europe are playing down the impact of Washington’s decision to pull troops from the continent — insisting the transatlantic relationship remains strong despite the turmoil caused by Donald Trump.

“The U.S. will not leave NATO,” Sorin-Dan Moldovan, Romania's deputy defense minster, said Thursday at the POLITICO Speakeasy at the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague.

Trump said earlier this month he would pull at least 5,000 soldiers out of Germany after Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized Washington's war on Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth then blindsided Poland last week by cancelling an upcoming deployment of 4,000 rotational troops.

Despite that, European countries still count on the U.S. to provide the ultimate guarantee of their security.

“The transatlantic relation[ship], while indispensable, is changing in nature,” Czech President Petr Pavel said at the forum. But this “doesn’t mean [Europe] has to turn away from the U.S.”

Pavel, himself a former NATO general, added that “NATO remains the foundation of our collective defense.”

The U.S. drawdown is sending a signal to Europe, said Karel Řehk, the Czech Republic’s top general. “Europe must take over responsibility at least on conventional deterrence on itself, it’s a geopolitical reality. Let’s do our best to remain functional but not rely on the big brother.”

Finland, which only joined NATO in 2023, also insisted that the troop withdrawals aren't a death blow to the alliance.

Trump "made it clear that he would like to see the U.S. having [fewer] boots on the ground in Europe ... and we see some of that now," said Janne Kuusela, permanent secretary at Finland's defense ministry. "I don't think that's fatal for NATO's defense. I think the more important issue is that the United States remains committed to the alliance."

But those not serving in political office were far more blunt about Trump's troop cuts.

“Putin is laughing,” said former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, when asked about the announcements. “These actions, these statements are bad and the timing is extremely bad.”

Trump has “no strategy” for handling European security at a time of heightened Russian pressure, he added.

He also warned that Trump remains interested in Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, warning that the U.S. president could return to the issue once other global crises subside. This week, Trump's envoy to Greenland, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, was on the island making the case for a greater American presence there.

“Trump has not forgotten Greenland,” Rasmussen said. Although Washington is currently “preoccupied elsewhere in the world,” the U.S. president will one day “revert to that issue.”

The ex-chief said while NATO will remain a “cornerstone” of European security, “we have to Europeanize NATO by taking over more positions in leading military command roles.”

He backed a stronger coalition of countries willing to defend Europe, including Ukraine, as a bulwark against Russia. “The perspective would and should be to create an independent European command structure, so that we can act without the United States if need be.”

The U.S. downsizing actually began in Romania in November, when the Pentagon scaled back a rotational brigade. At the time, Moldovan, the deputy defense minister, tried unsuccessfully to change Washington's mind.

However, Moldovan insisted the U.S. move won't affect the continent’s security.

“Europe needs to do more to defend itself, we don’t need the Americans to tell us that, we should do that on our own," he said. Referring to Hegseth's decision on the troops on their way to Poland, he said it “doesn’t mean the U.S. is abandoning Poland.”

Eventually, he said, “we will need a European army, but for now, we need to adapt to new realities.”