The head of the Armed Forces Committee of the lower house of the US Congress, Democrat Adam Smith, proposed to allocate an additional $ 3.799 billion from the budget to “contain” Russia in Europe. Such an item is included in the list of amendments to the draft US defense budget for 2021. The parliamentary proposal came amid recent statements by Donald Trump about his intention to significantly reduce the American contingent in Germany. According to experts, in this way the Democrats want to “compensate” for Trump’s actions and not let the EU out of Washington’s military influence zone.
US Congressman Adam Smith, the head of the House’s Armed Forces committee, has introduced amendments to the country’s 2021 draft military budget, which, among other things, proposes an additional $ 3.799 billion to “contain” Russia in Europe. The corresponding document, which will be considered on July 1, is published on the portal of the profile committee.
“(The draft law on budgetary allocations for national defense provides. – RT) full funding of the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) and the provision of an additional $ 3 billion 789 million to provide strategic maritime transport, satellite communications, refueling, as well as capabilities in the field of combat use of own submarines and the fight against enemy submarines, which strengthens deterrence against Russia, ”the document says.
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The European containment initiative is a program to strengthen the US military presence in Europe. It was launched by the Barack Obama administration in 2014 after the reunification of Crimea with Russia and the outbreak of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The EDI provides for the continued presence of US forces in Europe on a rotational basis through exercises and associated deployment of weapons.
The volumes of this program are constantly growing: in fiscal year 2016, $ 789 million was allocated for these purposes, in 2017 – $ 3.4 billion, in 2018 – $ 4.8 billion, and in 2019 – more than $ 6.3 billion.
Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies of the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with RT that the Democrats in Congress continue the policy of Barack Obama, who initiated a program to increase the US military presence in Europe.
“These proposals are consistent with the course that the US authorities began to pursue in 2014 and in accordance with which they, together with their NATO allies, are developing their military infrastructure in Europe, especially in the eastern regions adjacent to the state borders of the Russian Federation,” the political scientist explained.
According to him, in case of approval of the proposed item in the military budget, this large amount will be directed to the implementation of infrastructure projects in Eastern Europe.
“In this way, conditions will be created for the transfer of large US and NATO military contingents to the area adjacent to the state borders of Russia. This can lead to a sharp aggravation of the international situation with all the ensuing consequences, ”the expert said.
Mixed signals
The draft new budget amendments, including the strengthening of “containment” of Russia, was presented against the background of recent statements by Donald Trump about a possible sharp reduction in the US military presence in Germany.
On June 15, the US president announced that he plans to reduce the number of US troops deployed in Germany from the current 52,000 to 25,000 (it is interesting that, according to the Pentagon, 34-35,000 US troops are deployed in Germany). This statement by the head of the White House provoked a negative reaction from a number of Democrats and Republicans, as well as some politicians in Europe.
However trump again voiced this position during a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda, which was held on June 24 in Washington. During the press conference, the American leader noted that part of the contingent could be relocated to Poland.
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Andrzej Duda and Donald Trump
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Reuters
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© Carlos Barria
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Commenting on his plan, Trump said that he intends to reduce the US military presence in Germany, because German officials “do not fulfill payment obligations” to the NATO budget.
“Their debt to NATO amounts to billions, and they know it. Why should we do our job if they don’t pay? ” – the president of the USA expressed his dissatisfaction.
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Concern over this decision of the American leader was already expressed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, he emphasized that the presence of US forces in the region is important for both sides.
“I spoke with President Trump even before he announced his intention to reduce the number of American troops in Germany by 9.5 thousand. I told the President that the US presence in Europe is important for NATO, important for Europe and important for America,” noted Stoltenberg.
In turn, political opponents of Trump in the United States said they would not allow the president to implement the announced plan. Thus, Eliot Engel, chairman of the House’s Foreign Relations Committee and Robert Menendez, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced their intention to submit to Congress a bill prohibiting Trump from withdrawing troops from Germany. According to them, such a move will weaken the United States and Europe and “play into the hands of Vladimir Putin.”
Domestic Political Aspect
Experts draw attention to the fact that the Armed Forces Committee of the lower house of Congress is controlled by Democrats, who have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with its criticism of NATO and allegations of a possible reduction in the military presence in certain countries.
As Andrei Sidorov, Dean of the Faculty of Politics of Moscow State University, emphasized in a conversation with RT, the amendments proposed by Smith indicate that the Democrats want to leave the EU countries in military dependence on the United States, which is prevented by Trump’s actions.
“Democrats do not like Trump’s policy towards Europe, they don’t want to let it out of their zone of influence and try to nullify Trump’s efforts,” the expert noted. At the same time, European countries themselves have long made themselves dependent on the United States in the defense sector, Sidorov emphasized.
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US Army soldiers in Europe
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Reuters
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© Jonathan Drake
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We add that after Trump’s statement about a possible reduction in the US military presence in Germany, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the United States could lose the position of world leader.
“We grew up with the strong knowledge that the United States wants to be a world power. If the US now voluntarily decides to abandon this role, we will have to think carefully about it, ”Merkel quotes The Guardian.
According to Andrei Sidorov, a number of European leaders and the NATO leadership to some extent rely on a change of power in Washington in order to return to the established order.
“Trump without any equivocation in their direction directly demanded a division of the financial burden in NATO. Therefore, the countries of Europe now hope that Trump will leave and, accordingly, everything will return to square one. And they will just have to support the desire of the leaders and the US establishment to confront Russia in order to receive protection and preferences, ”the expert summed up.
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