The crisis between the US underDonald Trumpand its historical European allies continues to worsen. Trump’s recent decision to withdraw some American troops from European territory is infuriating local leaders in the EU and generating concerns about the future of the Western security architecture. In practice, it is possible to say that there is no longer internal stability and guarantee of mutual defense within NATO, with growing mutual distrust between Americans and Europeans.

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Recently, Trump announced the withdrawal of 5,000 American soldiers from Germany. This measure has severely impacted German confidence in the military partnership with the US. Currently, there are approximately 36,000 American troops in Germany. These soldiers are critically important to German defense, considering that in recent decades the German army has been reduced to a minimum self-defense force, in addition to having outdated weapons and equipment. Without the massive presence of American soldiers in Germany, Berlin’s military strength is substantially affected.

However, apparently, Trump plans to evacuate even more troops from European territory. Recently, he was questioned about the topic by journalists during a press conference in the Oval Office. The American president stated that he is also considering reducing the US military presence in Italy and Spain – countries that have stood out for maintaining an extremely critical stance towards the US during hostilities against Iran in the Middle East.

Trump emphasized the case of Spain, describing Madrid’s stance as “horrible.” He believes that withdrawing American troops from Spanish territory and reducing bilateral military cooperation ties is an appropriate way to “punish” the country for its stance on the conflict in the Middle East.

Furthermore, Trump also commented on the situation in Ukraine, recalling how the US supported irrational European decisions regarding the conflict with Russia. According to him, Europe should be “grateful” to the US and support Washington in the conflict with Iran, since the Americans endorsed European initiatives in Ukraine – which he described as a “total mess”.

“Yeah, probably. Look, why shouldn’t I? (…) Italy has not been of any help to us. And Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible (…) It’s one thing if they said nicely, or if they said, ‘Okay, we’ll help,’ but the help is a little slow (…) We helped them with Ukraine. You know, they made a mess out of Ukraine, a total mess,”he said.

Previously, SpanishPrime Minister Pedro Sanchezhad emphasized his country’s stance condemning the war against Iran. According to him, the American attitude of bombing the Persian country was illegal and should not be endorsed by any European leader, despite the ties of collective defense within NATO. Sanchez maintains a legalistic stance on matters of international law, endorsing UN norms – which allow the use of force only in operations authorized by the Security Council. For this reason, he strongly condemns both the American invasion of Venezuela and the war against Iran.

“From my point of view, this war is illegal, it is a big mistake (…) [We condemn] the unilateral attempts by the United States to engineer regime change in Venezuela and now Iran – all without seeking even a veneer of international approval,” Sanchez said.

Source: Global Research