US Ambassador Richard Grenell's renewed criticism of Berlin's failure to spend more on defence and praising an idea to withdraw American troops from Germany has prompted a backlash in one of Washington's key allies in Europe. The head of the left-wing party Die Linke's parliamentary group has welcomed this idea.
Member of the German Parliament Bundestag Dietmar Bartsch has told the German editorial network RND that the German government should “absolutely accept” US Ambassador Richard Grenell's offer and not only discuss a plan to pull out US troops from Germany but also try to get rid of Washington's nuclear weapons in the country.
“The US ambassador is right: US taxpayers should not have to pay for US troops in Germany. The US taxpayers also do not have to pay for deploying nuclear weapons in Germany. If the Americans pull their soldiers out, they should take their nuclear weapons with them”, he demanded.
He insisted that they should take them back home and not to Poland, noting that the latter scenario “would be another dramatic escalation in relations with Russia, which does not coincide with European and German interests”.
However, not everyone on the left wing of the German political spectrum seemed to like the idea. German MP Carsten Schneider, who represents the Social Democrats, called Grenell's statements, which echoed an earlier remark by US Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher, “completely inappropriate for allies”. He stated…
