US President Donald Trump wants to reduce the American military contingent in Europe by 20,000, and to demand "greater investment" from European countries to maintain the rest. ANSA agency writes about this, referring to its sources in Brussels.
"Trump assumes that the US military is an instrument of deterrence, and therefore their costs cannot be covered by US taxpayers alone," the agency quoted one of its interlocutors, who clarified that all programs are still in the initial stages and are not operational. .
However, the position of the new American president, who always believed that Europe should do more to ensure its own security, has been known for a long time. In particular, Trump has already indicated the threshold of 5% of GDP for military expenses within NATO. It is noted that last year the total defense costs of the EU countries made an average of 1.9%, while in the Russian Federation this indicator allegedly reaches 9%, the agency claims.
