He added: “I’m sure there will be some reduction, but by how much we don’t know.”

While some American policymakers have called for reducing U.S. troop numbers, the Pentagon has yet to reveal its plans. Officials in countries that neighbor Russia — which has repeatedly violated European airspace in recent days — are bracing for imminent drawdowns, with Estonian President Alar Karis telling POLITICO earlier this month that front-line nations needed to prepare for this possibility.

The main concern for European NATO allies, per Stubb, was that the U.S. continues to keep “essential equipment,” such as “air carriers” and radar, based on the continent. The U.S. currently has between 70,000 and 90,000 troops stationed in Europe — a number that increased under former President Joe Biden after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

‘Interpreting Zelenskyy’

In Finland — whose border with Russia is more than 1,300 kilometers long — the president is in charge of foreign policy as well as being commander-in-chief of the armed forces. As such, Stubb has been credited with playing an important role in speaking to U.S. President Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine, including during a round of golf in March.

The outing was credited with helping to change Trump’s perspective on Ukraine, as it was shortly afterward that he started to speak and post more critically about Vladimir Putin and Russia’s role in the world — though Stubb was adamant about not claiming too much credit for influencing the American president.

“Under no circumstance do I want to inflame my own role,” he said. “I think Europe and the United States are playing well together under Trump — much better than they did in 2016. There is deep cooperation, especially with the big boys: France, U.K., Germany and Italy. And then I want to stress that President Trump has close relations with Secretary-General [of NATO] Mark Rutte and [European] Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.”

Amnesty International said, it’s “a dark day for Slovakia” in a press release.

European Democracy and Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath said in January, when the proposal to amend the constitution was announced, that “the primacy of EU law … is nonnegotiable.”

Since Fico returned to power in October 2023, Slovakia has cracked down on independent media and judiciary, along with LGBTQ+ and artists’ rights, following an “illiberal” playbook sketched out by Hungary.

The controversial amendment, which will come into force in November, was surprisingly approved by a narrow margin.

The government coalition, which initially lacked support to pass the change, gained 13 votes from the opposition conservative Christian Democrats and conservative-populist Movement Slovakia.

The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Smith said that Microsoft’s terms of service prohibit the use of its tech for mass surveillance of civilians. He said the company has therefore ceased and disabled certain subscriptions and services it was supplying to Israel’s Defense Ministry, including their use of specific cloud storage, and AI services and technologies.

The Guardian investigation said the storage of Palestinians’ phone records on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform had facilitated deadly airstrikes and shaped military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

After a previous internal review in May, Microsoft said there was “no evidence” that its technologies have been used to target or harm people during the conflict in Gaza.

On Thursday, Smith noted that Microsoft has a policy of respecting customer privacy, and that the company does “not access our customers’ content in this type of investigation.”

He expressed “appreciation” for The Guardian report which revealed information that couldn’t be accessed in light of those “customer privacy commitments.”

Microsoft said the decision will not impact its work protecting the cybersecurity of Israel and other countries in the Middle East, including under the Abraham Accords.