The German government has spent more than 240 million euros ($266 million) in seven years on the US troops that are stationed in the country, media reported on Wednesday, weeks after the US ambassador in Berlin suggested possibly redeploying some of Washington's contingent in Germany to Poland
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2019) The German government has spent more than 240 million Euros ($266 million) in seven years on the US troops that are stationed in the country, media reported on Wednesday, weeks after the US ambassador in Berlin suggested possibly redeploying some of Washington's contingent in Germany to Poland.Earlier in August, US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell told the DPA news agency that the United States may send some of its troops in Germany to Poland since the former had not increased its defense expenditure up to 2 percent of GDP, a goal set by NATO. Germany currently hosts 35,000 US troops and is home to 17,000 US nationals who work on the military bases.
The German Finance Ministry said, in response to a relevant inquiry by Die Linke lawmaker Brigitte Freihold, that the government had spent over 240 million euros on US troops in seven years, including on pensions for former employees, and the use of land and buildings, Germany's ARD broadcaster reported.
The ministry also said that between 2012 and 2019, Germany had spent 480 million euros on building military facilities for NATO partner states, almost all of which were put into US infrastructure.
Commenting on Grenell's remarks on August 14, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Berlin welcomed the presence of US troops in Germany. The US proposal to move these troops to Poland was, in turn, not supported by Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz.
The US administration under President Donald Trump is pressuring NATO member states to meet the alliance's defense spending commitment of 2 percent of GDP. This year, Germany has said it would allocate only 1.36 percent of its GDP toward defense.
