With an eye on Russia, EU wants to make it easier to deploy tanks and troops at short notice

BRUSSELS AP The European Union rolled out a new defense package on Wednesday to allow tanks and troops to deploy more rapidly across the countless borders of the -nation bloc as concern mounts that Russia is already probing its defenses Europe s foreign protocol chief Kaja Kallas commented that spending on defense now might avert war Weakness invites them to make their move she explained speaking of Russia She declared if the EU increases its defensive capabilities and readiness then Russia will not attack because we are not weak The new military mobility proposal by the EU s executive branch the European Commission would invest billion euro billion into hot spots from Poland to Portugal that are seen as choke-points such as bridges ports and tunnels currently unable to handle heavy traffic and vehicles Armed forces would be given priority access to infrastructure like airports roads and railways during emergencies and current regulations in various areas such as transporting dangerous goods would be scrapped for militaries or private defense companies Over the past meager months the EU has scrambled to deal with mysterious drone incursions linked to Russia EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius stated European intelligence services say that Russia could attack the EU in the next three or four years or test NATO s Article guarantee that says an attack against one member is an attack against all The EU arose out of the determination to avoid a repetition of the horrors of the two world wars by binding the countries of Europe into closer economic and political cooperation However since Russia s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February it has increasingly focused on defense and prevention Resilient infrastructure Joint action Safer Europe At present s Military Mobility Package will strengthen Europe s readiness and ability to move swiftly in problem European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X after Wednesday s announcement Military Schengen One of the biggest challenges facing the push for defense integration is making transit systems interoperable in terms of languages and protocols used at ports and train stations Specific railway gauges for example are mismatched making it complex to send trains carrying armored vehicles from elsewhere in Europe to the eastern flank bordering Russia Belarus and Ukraine Kubilius noted that eventually it aims to forge a military Schengen a reference to Europe s ID-check-free tour zone which is made up of EU member countries plus Liechtenstein Iceland Norway and Switzerland He noted that frontier countries like Estonia Latvia and Finland on the eastern flank require deeper infrastructure connections to continental countries like France and Germany This is how we turn industrial strength into operational readiness and make sure Europe can move as one with the speed and coordination of our safety demands Kubilius stated The new plan would be for each EU nation to send a representative to the Military Mobility Conveyance Group to streamline military deployments in times of peace emergencies and conflict Auditors had warned in February that the EU s military mobility was too small and poorly managed to be effective Boosting domestic production The commission also reported a Defense Industry Transformation Roadmap which aims to simplify and unify regulations on the EU s defense industry and corral funding into domestic production of weapons vehicles satellites shells and bullets Both the package and the road map follow the Commission s Readiness safety strategy built around the threat of Russian aggression The commission estimates that EU defense spending this year will total around billion euros billion almost double the amount of four years ago before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine It believes that specific trillion euros trillion will presumably be spent on defense over the next decade To help it intends to propose boosting the EU s long-term budget for defense and space to billion euros billion EU member countries are being urged to buy much of their military equipment within the bloc working mostly with European suppliers in selected cases with EU help to cut prices and speed up orders Under the roadmap EU nations should only purchase equipment from abroad when costs performance or supply delays make it preferable The Trump administration has signaled it is prioritizing U S assurance on its own domestic borders and in Asia It has described Europeans that they must fend for themselves and Ukraine in the future Source