Speaking to the DPA news agency, Pistorius stressed that “the presence of American soldiers in Europe, and particularly in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the US.”

Meanwhile, NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said the alliance was “working with the US to understand the details of their decision.”

Washington’s move comes after Donald Trump criticised German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for saying the US had been “humiliated” by Iranian negotiators in the ongoing conflict. The US military deployment in Germany—currently more than 36,000 active-duty troops—is by far its largest in Europe, compared with about 12,000 in Italy and 10,000 in the UK. Trump has also suggested pulling US troops from Italy and Spain.

Last year, Washington decided to reduce its troop presence in Romania as part of Trump’s plan to shift the focus of US military commitments from Europe to the Indo-Pacific region. There are growing concerns within the 32-member NATO alliance that the latest decision could weaken the organisation.

“The greatest threat to the transatlantic community is not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Saturday. “We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend,” he added.

Two senior US lawmakers from Trump’s Republican Party also said they were “very concerned” by the decision to withdraw a US brigade from Germany. Roger Wicker and Mike Rogers, who chair the Senate and House Armed Services Committees respectively, said: “Rather than withdrawing forces from the continent altogether, it is in the US interest to maintain a strong deterrent in Europe.”

In his interview with DPA on Saturday, Pistorius also said Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security and that Berlin would work more closely with its continental allies. “Germany is on the right track,” he said, noting that the country has significantly increased its military spending in recent years. Trump had previously accused Germany of being “delinquent” because its defence spending was well below NATO’s target of 2 percent of gross domestic product). (BBC)