UK Pulls Out of Germany

If the plans are finalized by the end of the year, some 15,000 British soldiers would remain on German soil by 2014, Britain's Defense Minister Bob Ainsworth said Wednesday, Sept. 12, from London. Germany represents Britain's largest foreign deployment.

Starting in 2009, Britain's Osnabrück and the Rhine garrisons would be closed and troops sent back to the UK as part of a general military consolidation plan.

"This work is driven by the need to deliver operational capability in a more effective and efficient way," said Ainsworth. "We will do this by moving towards a more coherent basing arrangement for the army."

Effects on civilian employment

For the cities where the bases are to be closed, the decision could mean unemployment and infrastructure problems. Mönchengladbach's Mayor Norbert Bude called the withdrawal a "human and social loss," adding that it would cost his city some 900 civilian jobs.

In Osnabrück, investors are already being sought to buy up the large areas being vacated by the soldiers, German news agency DPA reported.

Valued ties with Germany

Despite the pull-out, Germany has played a significant part in the history of the UK's armed forces for several decades and will continue to do so as Britain continues to uphold its international defense promises, the British defense minister said.

"This announcement doesn't change the close relationship we have with Germany or our commitment to our NATO responsibilities," Ainsworth said. "With the continued agreement of the German government, some 15,000 troops will remain there for many years to come.

Britain, the US and France have maintained military bases in Germany since the end of World War II, when the country became a strategic military location. The divided city of Berlin was host to some of the Cold War's most frigid exchanges between Eastern and Western European governments. Both France and the US have already pulled out a portion of their troops since the collapse of the communist bloc in 1989.