Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has stated that POTUS will soon be announcing the freeze of an order to withdraw and redeploy some of the US troops stationed in Germany. Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan added that the Pentagon will carry out a full global force posture review, with the redeployment of troops from Germany halted as part of the process.
Sullivan did not elaborate on how long the freeze will last or when the Pentagon is expected to finish its posture review. He also did not mention whether the planned strengthening of the US military presence in Poland, linked to the troop withdrawal from Germany, will be affected by the freeze.
The administration of previous President Donald Trump confirmed plans to withdraw almost 10,000 troops from Germany in July 2020, thus leaving the country with 25,000 American servicemen stationed in military bases there. The administration hinted that the move was a result of Germany's reluctance to meet NATO members' voluntary commitment to spend 2% of their GDPs on defence. Both aisles of the US Congress, however, opposed the plans.
A small fraction of the withdrawn troops, between 1,000 and 2,000, were set to be redeployed to Poland, which has long requested this under the pretext of needing protection from allegedly possible future Russian aggression. Currently, prior to the planned deployments, there are some 4,500 American troops stationed in the country. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said in August 2020 that should the need arise, around 14,000 US servicemen could be redeployed to the country.
