Europe couldn't replace US forces 'overnight': German defence minister

"We would have to compensate for what the Americans are doing less of in Europe," Pistorius said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

"But that can't happen overnight," Pistorius said.

The head of the Munich conference, Christoph Heusgen, told German radio earlier on Friday that "I suspect that today the American Vice President (JD Vance) will announce that a large part of the American troops will be withdrawn from Europe".

The Trump administration has argued it needs to refocus its strategic posture away from Europe and to Asia to face its main adversary China.

Pistorius said that "to believe that we could compensate within a year for what the Americans are doing less of in a few months is illusory, it won't work".

Pistorius said he had proposed a "roadmap" to US counterpart Pete Hegseth, after the two crossed paths at a NATO summit in Brussels.

The plan included a "change in burden sharing, in such a way that it is orchestrated" and "no dangerous capability gaps arise over time".

Hegseth "sees it the same way", Pistorius said.

"It would be good if we could quickly translate yesterday's verbal agreement into action," the German minister added.

Vance told reporters in Munich that US President Donald Trump saw Europe playing a bigger role in its own defence and that Germany had a big part to play.

"Obviously, Germany, being the biggest economy in Europe, is going to have a major role to play there," Vance said.

US troops deployed in Europe
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) Feb 14, 2025 - The question of the United States' military presence in Europe will hang over the Munich Security Conference this week, which US Vice President JD Vance is attending.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth set the tone on Friday when he warned NATO allies in Europe against assuming that the American military presence on the continent will "last forever" during his visit to Warsaw.

But he said in Brussels on Thursday that no decision had been made on troop levels.

Around 100,000 American troops are stationed in Europe. More than 65,000 are based permanently on the continent, while the rest are rotating staff and mostly reinforcements.

Their numbers rose by nearly 20,000 soldiers after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to the US Department of Defense.

Some 10,000 American soldiers are currently on rotation in Poland, the department says.

Any US withdrawal would likely involve these additional troops sent after 2022, a NATO diplomat said.

- Troop numbers -

There are around 65,600 American forces deployed in Europe, not including the national guard and civilian staff working for the US Department of Defense, according to official figures from April 2024.

They are deployed in several European nations. These are the main ones:

Germany: 34,894

Italy: 12,319

United Kingdom: 10,180

Spain: 3,253

Turkey: 1,683

Kosovo: 600 as part of NATO's Kfor force.

- Base figures -

According to the US Department of Defense, there are 37 American bases in Europe, including the NATO allied powers in Europe headquarters known as SHAPE, based in Mons, Belgium. These are the countries with the most US bases:

Germany: 13

Italy: 7

Belgium: 3

Turkey: 2

The Netherlands: 2

Spain: 2