By Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - A key Senate Democrat has asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to ensure that U.S. diplomats are involved in a Pentagon-led review of America's military presence in Europe that has alarmed NATO allies.
In a letter addressed to Rubio, who is also the national security advisor, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote that diplomats, including U.S. ambassadors in potentially affected countries, are being
kept out of the loop. The letter was first shared with Reuters.
The review, which began in June and is due to conclude by the end of the year, is part of a push by the Trump administration to have Europe rely less on the United States and instead take more responsibility for its own defense.
The U.S. has around 80,000 troops stationed in Europe.
"The Department of State, which is responsible for managing our bilateral relationships, has traditionally played a substantial role in reviews of this kind," read the letter.
"Yet what we are hearing through our own conversations, travel across Europe and engagement with our Allies tells a different story. U.S. Ambassadors and Chiefs of Mission in affected countries have been excluded from consultations."
The Europe force posture review is being handled almost exclusively by the Department of Defense, with Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby taking a leading role.
The Trump administration has frequently excluded State Department personnel from policy debates relevant to their portfolios, sources have told Reuters. They declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Advocates of that approach say that, by keeping decision-making circles small, the administration can move quickly while minimizing leaks. Opponents say it means weighty decisions are made without sufficient input from experts and allies.
The Pentagon, State Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Shaheen wrote that adjustments in troop levels would have an effect on bilateral relationships that the State Department would be left to manage, with the Baltic nations of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia among the countries with the most at stake.
"Even changes that may appear modest from a purely military standpoint can have outsized effects on our bilateral relationships, particularly with Baltic Allies, as Russia continues to intensify its hybrid actions along NATO's eastern flank," read the letter.
European leaders have warned of hybrid incidents, often attributed to Russia, that fall below the threshold of conventional military attacks but undermine European security — such as sabotage, arson and drone incursions.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Don Durfee and Sonali Paul)
