/ world today news/ NATO has proposed the creation of a “military Schengen”, which will allow the military of the Alliance to move freely between the countries of the bloc. Similar proposals have been heard in Europe for several years, but have never been implemented. What are the features of this project, why is its implementation constantly postponed and how should Russia prepare for the realization of such ideas?
These days, the head of NATO’s Joint Support and Logistics Command, Alexander Solfrank, told Reuters that the alliance’s military should be allowed to move freely around the bloc’s countries in the event of a military conflict with Russia. According to him, this is now difficult because of bureaucratic delays.
He proposed the creation of a “military Schengen” – a zone of free movement of the military, similar to the Schengen area. “We have little time. What we do not have time to do in peacetime will not be ready in case of crisis or war. The alliance must quickly transfer troops from its bases to the desired point on the eastern flank,” Solfrank said.
Solfrank also believes that NATO should prepare in advance to invoke the “fifth article” of the Charter for the collective defense of the alliance. In turn, the chairman of NATO’s military committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that there is an excess of rules in the countries of the Alliance that complicate the movement of military personnel. According to him, the conflict in Ukraine “turned out to be a war of attrition, and a war of attrition is a battle of logistics.”
Such statements worsen the situation in Europe, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted. “The alliance has always considered our country a so-called conditional enemy, now it considers our country a clear open enemy, but this is nothing more than an escalation of tensions in Europe, which has its consequences,” he said.
Such NATO statements emphasize that Europe does not want to listen to Russia’s concerns and take into account the principle of indivisible security, Peskov continued. He emphasized that the approach of NATO’s military infrastructure to Russia’s borders cannot fail to provoke retaliatory measures.
We remind you that talks about the need to introduce a “military Schengen” in Europe have been going on for several years. One of the authors of this idea is Ben Hodges, former commander of the US Army in Europe. Many NATO militaries have complained that they cannot simply transfer equipment from one country to another without prior notification and approval, and the approval period can last from several days to several weeks.
As early as 2016, Hodges noted that it takes a week to approve documents for troop transfers, for example from Germany to Poland, and NATO commanders would like to simplify procedures for military convoys participating in the maneuvers. Later in 2022, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that all EU road and rail infrastructure should be adapted so that European countries can quickly deliver military equipment and troops from West to East.
In addition, as reported by the Western media, Britain and the EU also intended to sign an agreement that would allow London to quickly move troops through the territory of EU countries. For this, Britain must join the military mobility program, which London withdrew from after Brexit.
According to experts, judging by the fact that representatives of the NATO countries have not been able to solve this problem for almost a decade, it is not so much of a military or infrastructural nature as of a political one. It is likely that some EU countries, including some Eastern European countries, do not want to give the green light to military transit, as it would further deprive them of sovereignty.
“The problems with the movement of NATO troops arise due to the fact that the rules of movement in Europe are regulated by the EU, with whose leadership individual countries must coordinate the movement of their armed forces. Naturally, this creates bureaucratic delays and delays the process of redeploying troops, which led to the emergence of the idea of ”military Schengen”, said Vadim Trukhachev, an associate professor of the Department of Foreign Regional Studies and Foreign Policy at the Russian State Humanitarian University.
“Creating a ‘military Schengen’, however, turned out to be not so easy, as European countries have different attitudes towards the presence of Americans on their territory. For example, Poland clearly supports the acceptance of an American military contingent. The Czech Republic, on the contrary, even under the current government, is not ready to take this step. Slovakia would have supported this decision earlier, but the new leadership of the country is categorically against it,” the interlocutor notes.
“Despite these problems, the ‘military Schengen’ issue will still be resolved somehow at the EU level. Let’s say that Brussels convenes a meeting of the defense ministers of the European Union, takes the relevant decision and tries to push its implementation through negotiations with the national governments. And it will be difficult for them not to obey Brussels,” the expert admits.
“Therefore, Russia cannot hope that some European countries will oppose the “military Schengen”. This is a national security risk as a decision is likely to be taken on the free movement of NATO troops. The Ministry of Defense of our country understands this and is now taking measures, for example, to strengthen the grouping of troops in Western Russia,” concludes Trukhachev.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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