BRUSSELS - EU countries want to shorten the time it takes to move troops from the west to the east of the continent from the current 45 days to five or even three days. This was reported by the daily Financial Times referring to EU officials ahead of Wednesday's expected announcement from Brussels on new proposals to optimise military mobility.
According to them, the ultimate goal is to ensure the rapid redeployment of troops, equipment and ammunition from the west, where most NATO forces are deployed, to the eastern flank of the alliance across continental Europe. However, railways and motorways do not currently meet the necessary requirements.
According to Alexandra Solfrank, head of the new Bundeswehr Operations Command, which is to prepare Germany for a key role in this operation, every element must work like a Swiss watch. The aim, he says, is to send a strong deterrent signal to Moscow: We know what you're up to, and we're ready. Look, we're here.
According to NATO diplomats, the alliance plans to accelerate the movement of some 200,000 troops, nearly 1,500 tanks and more than 2,500 other armoured vehicles from the United States, Canada and Britain across continental Europe.
„Military mobility is an essential part of effective security and defence, and the right infrastructure helps allies ensure that the right forces are delivered to the right place at the right time,“ said a NATO spokesman.
According to Alberto Mazzola, Executive Director of the Association of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), Europe is only just beginning to realise the full extent of the problem.
He said the EU must examine which tunnels in Europe are suitable for this purpose. The current European standard size - the maximum dimensions of freight trains that allow them to pass safely under bridges and tunnels - is too narrow for military transport. Track inclination can also be a problem. One EU official said that if the cargo is heavy, it can tip over.
The EU wants to increase spending on military mobility tenfold to €17 billion in the 2028-2034 budget period. European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas said that the €1.7 billion earmarked for military mobility projects in the current seven-year EU budget (2021-2027) has been exhausted in three years.
Deadline military mobility within the EU, it means reconstructing the entire transport infrastructure of the Union - ports, airports, railways and motorways, and especially bridges and tunnels - to enable the rapid movement of large groups of troops, military equipment and ammunition in case of conflict. The EU and NATO see the main direction of movement as being from west to east, which involves the transport of military forces arriving at ports on the Atlantic coast of Europe from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, all the way to the borders with Russia and Belarus.
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