The US has announced that it is withdrawing its troops from the military base near the southeastern Polish city of Jasznoka - a key center for supplying Ukraine with military equipment. The American television channel “NBC News“ reported, citing US and European military officials, that the Pentagon is considering withdrawing about 10,000 US soldiers from Eastern Europe, in particular from Poland and Romania. The channel also quoted Elbridge Colby, who is expected to be confirmed by the Senate as the Pentagon's top policy adviser soon, who has called for a reduction in the number of troops in Europe in favor of Washington's focus on China.
The US Army Europe and Africa Command (USAREUR-AF) announced on its website the planned relocation of US troops and military equipment from the logistics hub in Yashonka, which the US uses to deliver military aid to Ukraine. “This relocation is part of a broader strategy to optimize US military operations, improve the level of support for allies and partners, while also improving efficiency”, the command said. The US troops were deployed to the Yashonka airfield at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, it has served as a major logistics hub for transporting Western military aid to Ukraine, protected by a U.S. Patriot missile defense system.
U.S. ground forces will remain committed to their presence in Poland, where they have a permanent garrison in Poznan, the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes noted. “Over the past several years, we have been stationed at various permanent facilities around the country. After three years in Jasznoka, this is an opportunity to right-size our footprint and save American taxpayers money,” Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the US Army in Europe and Africa.
Daniel Lawton, US Chargé d'Affaires in Poland, said, quoted by the English-language Polish publication “Notes from Poland”, that his country is “deeply grateful to the city and residents of Jasznoka for the warm welcome to American personnel and high-ranking visitors over the past three years”. “Your support exemplifies the close ties between our nations and has strengthened the strength of our US-Poland partnership. "As we adapt to changing needs, this transition allows us to maintain our close cooperation while using resources more efficiently," he added.
The move comes amid growing concerns in Europe about the US commitment to European defense under President Donald Trump, who has threatened not to defend NATO countries he says are under-spending on defense and has threatened the sovereignty of NATO members Greenland and Canada, the Brussels-based Politico reports.
Polish President Andrzej Duda was quoted by the national PAP news agency as saying that the US was making changes to the deployment of its forces in Poland, not withdrawing them from the country. The Polish Ministry of National Defense also told the agency that the US military was not leaving Poland, but instead implementing previous plans to relocate its units. The ministry also quoted US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said during his January visit to Poland that the number of US troops stationed in various locations in the country would remain at around 10,000.
“The withdrawal of US troops from the Jasznoka airfield was announced and discussed with us many weeks ago. The troops that will be withdrawn will continue to be stationed in Poland and this in no way means a reduction in US forces in Poland“, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in “Ex”.
“American troops remain in Poland!“, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Koszyniak-Kamiś wrote on his profile on the “Ex” social network. He added that within the framework of the NATO decision, other allies, including Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom and Poland, will take over the US responsibilities at the airport.
Lieutenant General Dariusz Lukowski, head of Poland's National Security Bureau, stressed that activities at the Jasznoka base will not be reduced. Lukowski suggested that the US administration's decision was driven by economic motives, notes the Polish news portal “Onet”.
According to the Polish TV channel Te Ve Pe, the move should not be interpreted as a complete withdrawal of US troops from Central and Eastern Europe. The channel quoted local political scientist Jacek Tarochinski as suggesting that the number in question may not refer to military personnel, but rather to civilians working in the armed forces. He added that a number of actions, including the fact that the US Army's 1st Armored Division is taking command of US forces in the region and the increased US presence in the Baltic states, lead him to believe that the US military presence in the country will continue.
The Polish magazine “Politika” sees no reason for concern. “The Americans rightly felt that they were once again doing someone else's job, which, while glorious, was by no means rewarding. The US was already saying “Enough!“ even before the politician who says these words the loudest came to power there. It took several months to forge the concept, but in the end it was decided that a “Ukrainian Command“ should be created within NATO and that the mission in Jashonka should be transformed from an American one to an allied one. These decisions were approved at the NATO summit in Washington, but without any detailed explanation of what they actually mean“, Polish political scientist Marek Świerczyński told the publication.
The “Żecpospolita” newspaper in turn asks: “What message is Donald Trump sending to Vladimir Putin with this move?“. “The increase in the US military presence in Poland was intended to demonstrate that the US will guard every inch of NATO territory. The withdrawal of these troops sends the opposite signal. "Putin and his propaganda machine are being given a valuable gift without anything in return," commented the author of the article, Michal Szulczynski.
Writing for the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, political scientist Bartosz Wielinski described the decision to move troops as a "bad sign," adding that "in corporate jargon, optimization means cutting costs. Power in America is now held by people who want to turn the state into a corporation and are using an axe, not a scalpel, to do so."
Gen. Roman Polko, former commander of Poland's special forces - GROM, told the Polish portal Business Alert that this is a sign that "the United States does not want to support Ukraine to the extent it has done so far, and therefore the decision to withdraw from Jasznoka is not good news for Kiev." He also said the US was ready to leave support for Ukraine to other NATO members, but suggested that the US would remain committed to defending NATO's eastern flank.
“It would be a serious mistake to withdraw forces from Europe right now“, said, quoted by “Hill”, Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon during a hearing of the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. “Today we are deterring Russia, and I believe that the withdrawal of forces is a sign of weakness“, he added.
Russian opposition political scientist Abbas Galyamov wonders on his “Facebook” why Trump did not make the withdrawal part of the negotiations on the war in Ukraine. “I am convinced that this decision could have been used to secure some concession from Russia. Something like: “Let everyone take a step to de-escalate. We are ready to withdraw 10,000 of our soldiers from your borders. What do you offer in return?“. One would expect the “master of the deal“ to use the available resources more wisely, and not just squander them“, he notes.
The Ukrainian UNIAN agency links the news to the shift in emphasis in US foreign policy from Europe to Asia. “The US government is gradually withdrawing its troops from Eastern Europe, while increasing its military budget to a record one trillion dollars. Trump is gathering forces and starting to prepare the country for a major war (or the threat of war). It probably won't be in Europe: Iran and its proxies, especially the Houthis in Yemen, as well as China, are the most obvious “addressees“ "These gestures by Trump," noted journalist Andriy Popov.
The Lithuanian newspaper "Netkariga Rita Avize" criticized the lack of information from politicians. "We cannot ignore the fact that we are currently caught between two individuals who wield global power and whose next steps are unpredictable and dangerous. What is truly worrying is that politicians are not ready to analyze the political and economic situation and inform the public, which is essentially left in the dark for tomorrow, let alone the coming weeks and months. Is this arrogance on the part of the authorities, or simply a lack of professionalism?" asks editor-in-chief Elita Veidemane.