US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has attempted to reassure NATO allies after recent US troop deployment decisions caused confusion across Europe.
Speaking after a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Sweden on Friday, Rubio said Washington was regularly reviewing its military presence in Europe due to wider global commitments.
His comments came after US President Donald Trump announced plans to send an additional 5,000 US troops to Poland.
The move followed the cancellation of a previously planned deployment of 4,000 troops to the country and a separate announcement that American forces would be withdrawn from Germany.
“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said during the meeting in Helsingborg.
Rubio responded by saying: “That work was already ongoing and it’s been done in co-ordination with our allies.”
“I’m not saying they’re going to be thrilled about it, but they certainly are aware of it”, eh added.
The US currently has tens of thousands of troops stationed across Europe, including major deployments in Germany, Poland, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Concerns among NATO members have grown since Trump renewed criticism of the alliance and signalled that Europe should become less dependent on US military support under his “America First” agenda.
