The US will permanently station “approximately 500 additional US employees in the Wiesbaden area” in Germany and will be on the ground “since the fall,” Austin told a news conference in Berlin.
“This planned increase in US personnel underlines our commitment to Germany and to the entire NATO alliance,” he added.
In his announcement Tuesday, Austin said the new German staff “will strengthen deterrence and defense in Europe and increase our existing conflict prevention skills.”
He said the forces would “create more space capabilities, more cyber warfare capabilities and more electronic in Europe” and “greatly improve our ability to increase forces at some point to defend our allies.”
Asked if this is a message to Russia, Austin replied: “Let me assure you that it is a message to NATO and that the message is that we support NATO to the fullest.”
“And most importantly, we appreciate the relationship with our partner here in Germany. Therefore, we will continue to strengthen our partnership and alliance,” he said.
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer hailed the announcement of another 500 American troops stationed in Germany as “happy news” and said the US commitment to NATO was “a crucial pillar for our freedom and peace.”
“Our cooperation is all the more important, all the more important in times when security and defense architecture has been under pressure in many parts of the world,” she and Austin said Tuesday.
Austin will continue his first trip to Europe as Secretary of Defense this week, joining US Secretary of State Tony Blinken in Brussels to meet with NATO allies.
Blinken reiterated on Tuesday that “the United States is firmly behind Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” during a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels.
The top US diplomat said support was particularly important in light of Russia’s “very provocative actions when it comes to Ukraine”.
“We now see the highest concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine’s border since 2014 and this is a deep concern not only for Ukraine but also for the United States and indeed for many of our allies and partners,” Blinken said. adding that “I would consult with NATO partners in the coming days.
Kuleba expressed his appreciation for US support and expressed optimism that the international community will take “actions that will make it very clear to Russia that the price of its further aggression against Ukraine will be too difficult to bear.”
Austin plans to meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on “how the Alliance addresses the destabilizing behavior of Russia, growing China, terrorism and global challenges such as COVID-19 and climate change,” according to the Pentagon.
Asked on Tuesday if his announcement was an indication that he would not fulfill the Trump administration’s plans to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany, Austin noted Biden’s February announcement and said he pointed out to Kramp-Karrenbauer that the United States had “stopped planning.” for a withdrawal.
CNN’s Samantha Beech and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.