EditFrom Romania to Slovakia: U.S. military downsizing raises concerns across NATO’s east
Several members of Congress - Democrats and Republicans alike, said they learned of the decision not from the Pentagon but from the media
The Biden-to-Trump transition in U.S. foreign policy has entered a new, uneasy phase. Last week, Washington announced the suspension of a U.S. Army brigade’s rotation in Romania – a move widely viewed across the Atlantic as the first tangible step in Donald Trump’s long-promised “retrenchment” from Europe.
Romania announces downsizing of U.S. forces on NATO’s eastern flank
While the Pentagon insists the measure is merely a “rebalancing” of global priorities, the message has been hard to miss. “Most Americans won’t notice if the U.S. pulls a brigade out of Romania, but Vladimir Putin certainly will,” wrote The Wall Street Journal in an editorial that captured the mood of unease.
The decision confirms months of speculation that the Trump administration is preparing to reduce its military footprint in Eastern Europe, potentially affecting U.S. deployments in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary next. For now, only Romania’s withdrawal has been officially confirmed.
From reassurance to retreat
The U.S. presence in Europe has been shrinking for years. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told NATO counterparts in February that Washington needed to focus more on the Indo-Pacific and “should not expect its European deployment to last forever.”
Even so, the current level – roughly 80,000 U.S. troops, is already at a post-Cold War low. General Christopher Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command, warned Congress in April against further cuts, reminding lawmakers that American forces stationed in Europe once numbered over 300,000 during the Cold War.
Romania, sitting on NATO’s longest border with Ukraine, has been one of the central hubs for U.S. forward deployments. Since 1999, Washington has poured resources into bases such as Mihail Kogălniceanu, a key Black Sea facility hosting troops from the elite 101st Airborne Division. The Pentagon now confirms that those soldiers will return to Kentucky “without replacement.”
Bucharest’s Defence Ministry framed the move as a result of “new priorities in the presidential administration.” Defence Minister Ionuț Moșteanu said Romania had been notified in advance, describing the shift as a pause in rotation, not a full withdrawal. Still, the number of U.S. troops in the country will drop from about 1,700 to roughly 1,000.
NATO officials were quick to downplay the impact. “Even with this adjustment, U.S. forces in Europe remain larger than at any point in recent years,” one Alliance official told reporters. France, meanwhile, offered to increase its own contingent in Romania to offset the change.
Romania announces downsizing of U.S. forces on NATO’s eastern flank
“The wrong signal at the wrong time”
The announcement provoked bipartisan backlash in Washington. Several members of Congress – Democrats and Republicans alike, said they learned of the decision not from the Pentagon but from Romanian officials and media reports.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the move “deeply misguided,” warning that it “sends absolutely the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin, who continues his bloody campaign in Ukraine.”
Republican lawmakers were equally critical. House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers and his Senate counterpart Roger Wicker issued a rare joint statement opposing the pullback, saying it “appears uncoordinated and directly contradicts the president’s stated strategy.” They also cautioned that further reductions in Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia could follow.
Representative Mike Turner, head of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said he was “concerned by reports of a drawdown” and urged the administration to maintain a “strong and resolute” posture in Europe amid increasing Russian provocations, including airspace incursions along the eastern flank.
European unease
Across Europe, reactions have ranged from disappointment to alarm. Former NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu wrote that the decision “may not alter Europe’s security overnight, but it sends the wrong signal at the wrong time, in the wrong place.” She argued that pulling forces from Romania – the only NATO state bordering Ukraine along the Black Sea, undermines deterrence when unity is crucial.
Romanian opposition leaders called the move a “blow to national security,” while members of the ruling coalition urged calm, stressing that the partnership with the United States remains “stronger than ever”.
Nevertheless, local media have reported that lawmakers in Bucharest are preparing a bipartisan resolution urging Washington to reconsider, while several U.S. senators are drafting legislation to block further troop reductions in Europe.
For now, the Pentagon maintains that the adjustment reflects growing European capabilities, not American retreat. Yet the optics are difficult to ignore: the first tangible contraction of U.S. forces in Eastern Europe in decades, coming amid efforts by the Trump administration to pressure Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
The political fallout in both Washington and Europe suggests that the cost of even a “temporary pause” in Romania will be measured less in troop numbers than in confidence — and in the messages it sends to allies and adversaries alike.
The full article of EUalive’s partner European Pravda in Ukrainian can be found here.
Caption: Soldiers prepare to conduct a drone reconnaissance mission to target simulated enemy vehicles with a Javelin missile system as part of Saber Junction 25 at Joint Multinational Readiness Center Hohenfens, Germany, 7 September, 2025/U.S. Department of war
Updated: November 8, 2025 - 07:35
