Handelsblatt: White House weighs troop withdrawal from Spain

The United States is considering withdrawing around 2,000 troops from Spain — roughly half of its military personnel stationed in the country — as part of a review of its military presence in Europe, according to Handelsblatt, citing sources.

The partial withdrawal is reportedly being considered by the White House as a punishment for Spain's refusal to allow the US to use military bases on its territory for operations during the war against Iran, the newspaper's sources said.

The move would come in addition to the previously announced withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany.

According to the report, Germany is no longer expected to be the main focus of Washington's broader review of its military posture in Europe, although any further troop reductions could have significant consequences for the continent's security.

Some Republican members of Congress have criticised plans to reduce the US military presence in Europe. They have urged the administration not to withdraw units leaving Germany from the continent altogether, but instead to redeploy them to other European countries.

Sources in Brussels told the newspaper that the same approach could be taken with troops withdrawn from Spain.

On May 2, US President Donald Trump said, without providing details, that Washington intended to reduce its overseas troop deployments by more than the 5,000 personnel already announced for Germany. He also suggested that some US troops could be withdrawn from Italy and Spain.