US to boost military presence in Europe
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
MADRID (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. will significantly increase its military presence in Europe for the long haul, including by establishing its first permanent presence in Poland, to bolster regional security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the opening of the alliance’s annual leaders’ summit in Madrid, Biden said “NATO is strong and united” and that steps to be taken during the gathering will “further augment our collective strength.” The White House said Biden’s commitments mean the U.S. will maintain a presence of 100,000 troops in Europe, up 20,000 from the levels before the Ukraine war began, for the “foreseeable future.”
In addition to the new basing of a U.S. military garrison in Poland, Biden also said the U.S. is sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the U.K. and more air defenses and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.
The more muscular American presence in Europe is bolstered by stepped-up defense commitments from NATO allies announced at the summit. It is still a far cry from its posture during the Cold War, when roughly 300,000 American troops, on average, were stationed in the region.
Biden said the U.S. will permanently station the U.S. Army V Corps forward command in Poland, a move that he said would strengthen US-NATO interoperability across the alliance’s eastern flank. The decision marks the first permanent basing of U.S. forces on NATO’s eastern edge. Biden added that the U.S. is also stepping up its rotational deployments of troops to Romania and the Baltic region.
Celeste Wallander, an assistant U.S. secretary of defense for international affairs, told reporters that having a permanent presence in Poland will be key to helping NATO navigate the changed security environment in Europe caused by Russia’s invasion. The U.S. supplies the bulk of NATO’s military power.
