Berlin welcomes Biden's announcement to keep U.S. troops in Germany

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Berlin welcomes Biden's announcement to keep U.S. troops in Germany
By: Reuters Staff - 02-19-21
Re: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g...AJ29G?rpc=401&

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Friday welcomed an announcement from U.S. President Joe Biden that U.S. troops stationed in Germany will stay.

“We clearly understand this confirmation of America’s commitment to European security, a strong NATO, and a strategically unified West,” she told Reuters, responding to Biden’s speech at the virtual Munich Security Conference on Friday.

“This signal will be noticed and well understood,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said. “It is now up to us to take the hand that Washington has reached out with.”

Kramp-Karrenbauer said standing up for European and Atlantic security was a joint effort and a mutual obligation.

“We need to respond by showing our own commitment to this cause – in our defence spending, in our joint military deployments abroad, the strengthening of NATO, and the capabilities of our armed forces”, she added.

Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Editing by Paul Carrel