Berlin must maintain "trustful dialogue" with the US after its announced troop withdrawal, a senior defense official tells DW. He also urged Washington to clarify its strategy behind redeploying soldiers around Europe.
"We have to continue a trustful dialogue at a higher level," Thomas Silberhorn, a senior member of the German Defense Ministry told DW.
"For decades, the US troops did a magnificent job in Germany and Europe," Silberhorn said, adding that it is now "crucial to get a clear strategic approach to the questions of readjusting US troops not only in Germany but all over Europe."
The US announced plans this week to withdraw 11,900 military personnel from Germany — down to 24,000 from 36,000. A number of troops are set to go to Italy. And, in a major move, US European Command headquarters and Special Operations Command Europe is to transfer from Stuttgart, Germany to Belgium. Some soldiers may also be relocated to Poland and the Baltic states.
It is one of the largest reordering of troops within Germany since the Cold War.
Call for clarification
Silberhorn said Germany was concerned "not exclusively of a withdrawal of troops, but about the reasoning."
US President Donald Trump had announced the downscaling last month amid a long-running spat with Germany over its defense spending, which falls below the NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product.
Silberhorn said that "we understand the argument, the Europeans and in particular the Germans, should do more for security in Europe. But we already do a lot."
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has also said the move, which will cost in the "single digit" billions of dollars, is part of Washington's new military strategy against Russia. "We are following the boundary east, where our newest allies are," Esper said.
Critics of the decision have said that removing troops from Germany will be welcomed by Moscow. However, Silberhorn doubted the US decision would play into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"It's a shift towards the south and eastern flank of NATO. Until 1990, it made sense to keep US troops near to Germany's eastern borders," he said. "Now, NATO has been enlarged, the boundaries shifted eastwards."
The history of US troops in Germany
US soldiers have been stationed in Germany for 75 years, arriving as victors after World War II and eventually becoming allies. But bilateral relations haven't always been plain sailing.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. May
From victor to defender
The American military presence in Germany began at the end of World War II. Along with its allies, the US had liberated Germany from the Nazis. However, their wartime ally, the Soviet Union, soon became an enemy. The tensions between the two sides were demonstrated when US Army and Soviet Union tanks faced off in a divided Berlin.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
GI Elvis Presley
The US soldiers also brought American culture to Germany. The King of Rock 'n' Roll, as Elvis Presley would eventually become known, was drafted in as a soldier and began his military service in Germany in 1958. He is seen here waving to his fans at Bremerhaven train station.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/L. Heidtmann
Building a home
Over the years the US Army has become firmly entrenched in the German landscape. Dotted around US bases are numerous residential districts for American soldiers and their families, such as this residential district in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. This often creates barriers to their full integration into German society. The US Army employed 17,000 American civilians in Germany in 2019.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dedert
Encounters
Despite separate residential districts, there has always been contact and exchange between German and American families. In the early years, dances were held on the streets of Berlin in summer months and in winter, the US Army organized Christmas parties for local children. And there were the German-American friendship weeks every year.
The Federal Republic of Germany became an important strategic location during the Cold War. The NATO maneuver Reforger I (Return of Forces to Germany) in Vilseck/Grafenwöhr in 1969 was one of many joint war games held by the US Army and the Bundeswehr. The enemy was the Soviet Union and the other signatories of the Warsaw Pact, including the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/K. Schnörrer
Dispute over nuclear missiles
Heavily guarded Pershing-II rockets were brought to the US base in Mutlangen in 1983. The rockets, armed with nuclear warheads, became a political issue. They were touted as filling an important gap in NATO's deterrent shield against the Warsaw Pact. Peace activists, however, saw them as a threat and held massive demonstrations. Many celebrities joined in the protests.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Separate ways on Iraq
Some 20 years later, US President George W. Bush went to war with Iraq over its alleged program to develop weapons of mass destruction. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, knowing the majority of voters supported him, ruled out Germany's involvement. That led to deep divisions between Washington and Berlin.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/dpa_pool/A. Altwein
Germany stays relevant
Germany will remain strategically important for the US. The Ramstein base is especially significant, since it is also headquarters of the United States Air Forces in Europe. It's from here that controversial drone missions are flown against targets in Africa and Asia.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Roessler
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Thomas Silberhorn, German Politician, State Secretary of the German Defense Ministry in Washington, was talking to DW's Ines Pohl.
