Berlin, July 29, (dpa/GNA) – The United States will send 6,400 troops currently stationed in Germany back to their home country as part of a planned troop withdrawal, a regional German broadcaster reported on Wednesday.
Another 5,400 are to be redistributed within Europe, the SWR public broadcaster in the south-west of Germany reported, citing unnamed sources.
The US has almost 35,000 soldiers currently based in Germany, but President Donald Trump in June announced plans for a partial withdrawal in the wake of a long-running spat with Berlin over defence spending.
There has been pushback against the move within the US from the opposition Democrats as well as high-profile members of Trump’s own Republican party.
The SWR reported that several locations in the states of Bavaria in southern Germany and Rhineland-Palatinate in the west are to be affected by the plans.
The air base in Spangdahlem in Rhineland-Palatinate and locations in Vilseck and Grafenwoehr in Bavaria are thought to be among them.
There was no official confirmation of the report from the German side.
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is expected to give details on the planned withdrawal at a press conference later on Wednesday.
