Romania confirmed on Wednesday that the US will downsize its troop presence in the country.
On Tuesday, unnamed US and European officials informed Kyiv Post of the planned troop reductions, saying the reductions are not expected to exceed “more than a battalion,” and that they believe the move will not “significantly impact US operations in the region.”
The Romanian Ministry of National Defense confirmed the plans on Wednesday.
The US plans to withdraw a brigade deployed to other countries in Europe, leaving only 1,000 at Romania’s Mihail Kogălniceanu base, the ministry wrote in its press release.
The US is also downsizing its troop presence in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia, according to Romania Journal.
“The downsizing of the US forces is an effect of the new priorities of the presidential administration, announced in February,” the ministry wrote.
“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,” it added.
The ministry added that it “expected” the decision thanks to constant communication with the US.
NATO’s statement on Wednesday echoed Bucharest’s comments, assuring that the alliance “has robust defense plans in place.”
“NATO has robust defense plans in place and we are working to ensure we maintain the right forces and capabilities to deter potential aggression and provide for our collective defense,” an unnamed official told AFP.
NATO also downplayed the move as an “adjustment” and nothing “unusual,” with the official arguing that the US presence in Europe exceeds pre-2022 levels despite the downsizing.
“Even with this adjustment, the US force posture in Europe remains larger than it has been for many years, with many more US forces on the continent than before 2022,” the person said,
Romania hosts major NATO bases, with the Mihail Kogălniceanu base undergoing planned upgrades to become the largest NATO base in Europe.
Romania is also a key member of the alliance’s eastern flank defense, which has been affected by recent Russian airspace incursions.
US withdrawal from other Eastern Flank states also aligns with Moscow’s demand that Washington roll back deployments to pre-1997 levels.
In 2021, before launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow demanded that Washington roll back troop deployments in Eastern Europe, in the former communist states, in addition to a permanent ban on Ukraine ever joining NATO as part of its ultimatum. Former US President Joe Biden rejected the demands.