United States to continue increasing their presence in Europe

November 12, 2016 (AFP News) The United States are will continue to increase their military presence in Europe according to plan, independently from the future intentions of president-elect Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Defense announced. The statements of president-elect Donald Trump during his campaign that as president, he would only defend allies, who have met their financial obligations to NATO, were a cause of worry in Europe. The U.S. is sending an armored brigade to Eastern Europe beginning February 2017. With it, the number of American brigades on European soil increases to three. A battalion-strength battle group to be sent to Poland will also be led by the Americans. The aim is to reinforce the alliance’s eastern flank, and Eastern Europe’s defenses for the case of a Russian attack.

 Press spokesman for the Pentagon, Peter Cook, said that the U.S. was putting the plan into practice as agreed with its European NATO allies. About the upcoming change of the presidency, Cook said that the military would leave policy to the next government. “We have one commander-in-chief at a time,” Cook said. The new brigade will start its operations with training exercises in Poland. After this, companies will be sent to Bulgaria, Romania, and to the Baltic states. Trump, who during his campaign praised Putin on a few occasions and criticized President Barack Obama’s policy in matters concerning Moscow, has said that he wants to improve relations with Russia. NATO decided at its Warsaw Summit last summer to send battalions to Poland and the Baltic states. The battalion to be sent to Estonia will be led by the British, the unit to be sent to Latvia led by the Canadians, the Lithuanian battalion by Germany, and the one to be sent to Poland by the United States.

The full article is available at:

http://news.err.ee/v/news/8f6eab6a-a3b0-4b4f-9293-a87b3295090f/united-states-to-continue-increasing-their-presence-in-europe