'Russian threat' forces EU and NATO to consider troop movements
(Baonghean.vn) - Concerns about the "threat" from the East have forced EU and NATO members to begin taking steps to upgrade military logistics systems across Europe, to ensure the rapid movement of soldiers and equipment in the event of conflict or epidemic.
According to RT news agency on February 14, Le Monde (France) reported that the European Commission will allocate 807 million Euros to repair outdated dual-use infrastructure. And by 2027, the EU plans to spend 1.7 billion Euros to upgrade military logistics systems across Europe, to ensure the rapid movement of troops and equipment in the event of conflict.
Since the end of the Cold War, logistics has remained a "poor category"of all items in the military budget of NATO countries. Especially in the context of the increasingly clear emerging "threat" that Europe perceives Russia as, once again, logistics has become one of NATO's priorities.
Le Monde explains that the conflict in Ukraine has exposed the West's lag in "military movement". In particular, plans designed to quickly move important assets across the European continent in the event of a conflict have not been updated since 1997 and are somewhat outdated. Not to mention, after the fall of the "Berlin Wall", the border that NATO had to protect shifted more than 1,000 km to the East.
Now Western allies are starting to fill the gap. According to Le Monde, on January 24, the European Commission announced a new aid package worth 807 million euros, which will finance 38 “troop movement” projects, including upgrading rail network infrastructure in 10 EU countries. For example, the French national rail operator SNCF will receive 54.3 million euros to repair four staging areas, which will be used for both military and civilian purposes, and another 3.6 million euros to protect Bordeaux, Metz and Grenoble stations from “strong attacks”.
In total, the EU plans to spend 1.7 billion euros to upgrade military transport infrastructure in Brussels by 2027, according to Le Monde. However, this figure is even less than originally expected. When the idea was discussed in 2020, the estimated cost was 6.5 billion euros, but many EU members then wanted to postpone the topic.
In late January 2024, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland signed an agreement to ensure the “fastest and most efficient” movement of personnel and equipment from deep-water ports in the North Sea to Europe’s eastern border.
According to Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh, the importance of the ability to quickly move troops to Western countries has been demonstrated by large-scale military operations in Ukraine./.
