[ad_1]
The US will invest half a billion dollars next year in US bases in Germany. With the war in Ukraine, Germany fully returns to the US military attention, writes Auron Dodi.
For public opinion in Germany the news came suddenly. The US government’s budget for 2023 has set aside $ 506 million for military bases in Germany, in the southwestern federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Over half a billion dollars will now be invested in US military bases in this land, Baumholder and Weilerbach.
In the atmosphere of war in Europe, this news was welcomed by many people in Germany. SWR1, the main public radio station of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, launched several consecutive news broadcasts with the news of US investments. The state’s interior minister, Roger Lewentz, said after the trip to the United States that “this is the largest military project outside the United States.”
What will the tools be used for? With $ 207 million, a new US additional troop station will be built at Baumholder’s base. In addition, homes and schools for Americans will be built. While $ 299 million will be used to build a new American hospital in Weilersbach. Construction will begin this year, in the third quarter.
American soldiers in Hohenfels, Bavaria
New US military investments in Germany and background
The US military bases in Germany will have an “extraordinary increase in importance” as centers for NATO’s eastern flank. This is the message brought from the talks in the US, the interior minister of the Rhineland-Palatinate, Lewenz.
The US has always had many troops stationed in Europe: not only in Germany but also in Italy, Spain, Belgium and most recently Poland. Most of the American soldiers who recently came to Europe went to Poland: 7,000 new American soldiers bringing the number of American soldiers there to over 10,500.
At the same time: the US supports the construction of NATO bases in Eastern European countries. The Chief of General Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mike Milley spoke before the House Armed Services Committee on the construction of new NATO bases, e.g. in Poland or in the Baltic States. But Milley proposed that the staff of these bases be rotated. This would save money for the families and schools of American soldiers in Eastern European countries.
Germany – important as in the “cold war” for the Americans?
By the end of the Cold War in 1991, most of the US troops in Europe were stationed in Germany: 224,000 of the 305,000 US troops stationed in Europe. There are currently about 35,000 American soldiers in Germany. But we have a return to the basic principle of collective defense, from NATO. We finally have a huge return of Americans to Europe.
This return began with the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014. Until this year, the US presence in Europe was focused on strengthening NATO structures. The US insisted that the Allies increase investment in defense.
Now, within two months, the number of American soldiers in Europe has grown to 100,000 soldiers, from 80,000 soldiers before. The young American soldiers come not only from the air force, but also from the First Infantry Division, which has recently fought in Iraq as well. Another large portion of the new US troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division, the Parachutists. These are soldiers who can intervene very quickly in case of need in a conflict zone.
For the US, Germany is regaining interest for another reason: with the historic turn in Germany to invest more than 2% of German GDP in defense, the US can better share the financial and logistical burden of NATO with Germany.
US with attention in Asia and Europe
The Chief of General Staff of the US Armed Forces, Mark Milley, stated in Washington that “now we are dealing with two world powers, China and Russia, both of which have significant military capabilities and aim to radically change the rules of the current world order.” .
Milley said the world faces a conflict that will last “at least years”, not to mention decades. This conflict crosses the borders of Ukraine. The senior US general spoke of “the greatest threat to peace and security in Europe and perhaps around the world” he had experienced in his 42 years of military service.
In these conditions we have a forced return of Americans to Europe. In this context, the US uses the military investments made for decades in Germany and makes new investments. Not only that: after 2023, the Americans are expected to make other military investments in Germany, in the amount of over one billion dollars, announced the Minister of Interior of the Rhineland-Palatinate, Lewenz. Forced by Russian attack on Ukraine, US is reorienting US defense in Europe./DW
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
