The US Senate has overwhelmingly approved the largest defense budget in US history. 77 senators voted for the $901 billion (767 billion euros) budget and 20 rejected it. The budget, which has already been approved by the House of Representatives, not only sets military spending for the coming year, but also requires the US government to reduce its military commitment Europe to remain approximately at the previous level.
The law limits the Defense Department’s scope to reduce the number of US soldiers in Europe to below 76,000. Depending on rotation, between 80,000 and 100,000 US soldiers are currently stationed in Europe. In addition, the commander of US troops in Europe is prohibited from giving up the post of NATO supreme commander on the continent.
The budget law therefore stands in contrast to the new US National Security Strategy, which was published by the US government at the beginning of December. This stipulates that the USA will withdraw from its leadership role within the long-term NATO withdraw and want to push the European members of the military alliance to become more independent in the defense sector.
As the Reuters news agency recently reported with reference to sources in the US Department of Defense, the USA is pushing for speed in this process: Europe should provide a large part of the conventional capabilities within NATO by 2027. Otherwise the USA would withdraw from some areas of cooperation. Although many European countries are striving for more independence, the 2027 mark is considered unrealistic.
