It’s a big decision. EU defense ministers on Thursday (May 6th) approved the participation of the United States, Canada and Norway, members of NATO, in a joint project aimed at accelerating the movement of troops in Europe. “This is a very important subject, not only for the European Union, but also for NATO”, underlined German Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. The Alliance called on EU countries to facilitate the movement of troops from the United States and Canada.
This is a “leap forward in concrete cooperation when it comes to ensuring that troops can be deployed in Europe beyond national borders”, insisted the German minister. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, invited to join European ministers, welcomed this decision. “Non-European allies play an essential role in the protection and defense of Europe”, recalled the Norwegian official. “As we speak, we are deploying thousands of troops to a NATO exercise in Romania.
This shows how we mobilize the troops (…) and how we are able to deploy them throughout Europe “, he stressed, specifying that troops from the United Kingdom, the United States, the United Turkey are participating in this exercise.
Cooperation with NATO
Since 2017, the European Union has had the possibility of permanent structured cooperation (PESCO), which allows a group of countries to develop their cooperation in the field of defense. “It is an instrument for the members of the European Union, but it can be opened to third countries, if they respect the political conditions and if their participation brings added value”, recalled a European official. .
Military mobility is one of the concrete aspects of cooperation between the Union and NATO (of which 21 EU countries are members). The importance of troop movements on the continent has grown due to the aggressiveness shown by Russia since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support for pro-Russian separatist movements in Ukraine. The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell assured that this joint project on mobility “will make the Union’s defense more effective and help strengthen our security”. The European Union has earmarked 1.7 billion euros over the next seven years to strengthen “military mobility”, notably through the modernization of infrastructure such as bridges, railways and roads.
Reduce delays
The project, led by the Netherlands, aims to reduce bureaucratic waiting times for cross-border movements of troops. “The admission of these three key partners of the EU and allies of NATO to the EU project is of great importance for the transatlantic link and will help to strengthen EU-NATO cooperation in this area,” he said. Dutch Ministry of Defense.
All EU countries except Denmark and Malta have signed the agreement establishing permanent structured cooperation to which the UK has not joined. Fifty projects have been approved in the areas of training, land operations, maritime operations, air operations, cyber defense and command systems, support and space. France, Italy, Spain and Germany are the countries most involved. These four countries, along with ten other EU capitals, are supporting the creation of a rapid intervention force of 5,000 troops. This proposal is to be discussed for the first time on Thursday between the European defense ministers as well as Jens Stoltenberg.
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