Baltic and Central European leaders promise to take in US units if Washington moves troops out of Germany, signalling readiness to boost regional defenses.
Lithuania and Poland are speaking up as active voices among Eastern European NATO countries bordering Russia, in the context of discussing U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw five thousand American troops from Germany.
“The security of Europe is indivisible. Therefore if these units are withdrawn from Germany, they must in some way remain in Europe. In which country exactly – that’s a question we need to find an answer to. On my part, I declare that we are ready to receive them and we are expanding the infrastructure to be able to accommodate as many of these military units as possible”
– Gitanas Nausėda
The head of Lithuania noted that by 2027 the country expects the arrival of a German brigade numbering five thousand soldiers. Currently, about a thousand American troops are stationed on Lithuanian territory.
“I hope that in the future there will be more of them… We must do everything so that the United States of America does not turn away from Europe”
– Gitanas Nausėda
The President of Poland Karol Navrotsky assured that his country is ready to welcome American soldiers and that the presence of as many troops as possible serves Poland’s security interests and the security of Central and Eastern Europe more broadly.
“We in Poland are ready to welcome American soldiers. We have the appropriate infrastructure for this, and it is in the interests of Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic states that as many American troops as possible are stationed here”
– Karol Navrotsky
Navrotsky stressed that the eastern flank of NATO currently bears responsibility for the security of all Europe, so the region’s countries must persuade the U.S. president to keep troops on the continent.
“I will encourage (Donald Trump) precisely for such decisions – to keep them in Europe”
– Karol Navrotsky
Trump on April 30 did not rule out the possibility of withdrawing American troops from Italy and Spain due to their governments’ opposition to the war against Iran. The previous day, the American leader spoke about a similar reduction in troop numbers in Germany, noting that he would make a decision “in the shortest possible time”.
Earlier, the U.S. president sharply criticized NATO partners, accusing them of insufficient willingness to support the American-Israeli operation against Iran and to ensure the unimpeded flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. On April 1 he emphasized to Reuters that he is absolutely considering leaving NATO due to the alliance’s lack of support for U.S. goals in Iran. In an interview with The Telegraph he called the military alliance a “paper tiger” and said that exiting NATO “is not subject to reconsideration”.
Regional outlook on security and the future placement of forces
Partners from Lithuania and Poland emphasize the importance of preserving the United States’ presence in Europe for the stability of the eastern flank. They underscore that the United States should maintain an active presence in the region, as this directly affects the security of the port countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the overall balance of power in Europe.
Such positions highlight a shared aim to strengthen transatlantic cooperation and develop infrastructural capabilities for hosting international units. At the same time, the leaders remind of new challenges and the need for consolidated dialogue among allies to maintain stability on the continent. The Ukrainian reality keeps relevant questions of interstate cooperation and responsibility for the security of NATO’s eastern border, requiring careful and thoughtful dialogue among alliance members.
Soon it will become clear how events around military deployments and partners’ responses to the U.S. request will unfold, but Lithuania and Poland remain open to cooperation to ensure regional stability and support the security of the European continent.