SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met NATO foreign ministers in Sweden on Friday and faced many questions about President Trump's recent decisions and reversals on U.S. troop deployment in Europe. Teri Schultz reports there were few answers provided.
TERI SCHULTZ: Sweden's king, Carl Gustaf, and Queen Silvia hosted NATO foreign ministers for dinner Thursday at one of their palaces outside Helsingborg.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Good to see you again. From Iceland?
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SCHULTZ: But dessert would give way to confusion. Until that point, hanging over the meeting was a decision by President Trump to cancel the deployment of 4,000 U.S. troops to Poland. But late Thursday, he suddenly reversed that decision and announced on Truth Social that instead, 5,000 U.S. soldiers would in fact be sent to the Eastern European nation which shares borders with both Russia and Ukraine. At least that second announcement was a welcome one for European allies, as expressed by Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, who dismissed questions about any difficulties caused by U.S. unpredictability.
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RADEK SIKORSKI: I want to thank President Trump for his announcement that the rotation, the presence of American troops in Poland, will be maintained more or less at previous levels. All's well that ends well. I think this makes Putin very uncomfortable.
SCHULTZ: But it was European allies who were uncomfortable with Trump's original decision. It started with an announced reduction of 5,000 troops from Germany in reaction to the German chancellor's criticism of the U.S.-led war on Iran. Later explanations by other U.S. officials clarified that the bulk of that 5,000 would actually come from the cancellation of a rotation by the Army's 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team to Poland.
This came as a shock to the country that spends the highest percentage of its GDP on defense of any NATO member, often described as a model ally by the U.S. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Mamer Stenergard was more candid than her Polish counterpart in summing up the situation.
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MARIA MALMER STENERGARD: Well, it is confusing indeed and not always easy to navigate. We need to continue to invest in our own defense and our own capabilities. We need the U.S. to stay involved, but it's also natural that as we ramp up, they also reduce a little of their presence in Europe. I welcome if they increase their presence in Poland, since it's on the eastern flank where we have the big threat.
SCHULTZ: While the foreign ministers met in Sweden Friday, lower-level defense policy officials were gathering back at NATO headquarters in Brussels to discuss the overall force posture of NATO, including longer-term reductions of the American presence in Europe. While the details of those plans are classified, Secretary of State Rubio emphasized European partners should know what to expect.
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MARCO RUBIO: That work was already ongoing, and it's been done in coordination with our allies. I'm not saying they're going to be thrilled about it, but they certainly are aware of it. And, you know, we have obligations in the Indo-Pacific. We have obligations in the Middle East. We have obligations in the Western Hemisphere. So this has been an ongoing process. It's not - shouldn't be a surprise to anybody.
SCHULTZ: But there may still be surprises to come from the original Trump announcement of the cancellation of the brigade to Poland. The newly announced reinforcement for Poland may not be the restoration of that other deployment. And that's a big concern for Estonia and Lithuania, whose own troop presence of 700 and 1,000 troops respectively are dependent on it. Lithuania's foreign minister, Kestutis Budrys, is still making the pitch to keep the Americans.
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KESTUTIS BUDRYS: We believe and strongly believe that it's in United States' interests to have deployments in Europe. That is the cheapest way to keep the continent in peace, and it is also the benefits militarily for United States. It is in our interests to have them at the very front line 'cause this is the most effective deterrence.
SCHULTZ: As for the Germans, asked about the success of Polish lobbying at the White House, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said his government's efforts to get a reversal are also underway.
For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.
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