While European militaries are filling out permit paperwork, the Russians could seize the Suwałki Corridor, warned European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius, speaking about the need to simplify the movement of troops and military equipment across EU member state borders.
Kubilius spoke at the Military Mobility and Resilience Forum.
He noted that there is no credible deterrence without military mobility, adding that military mobility determines whether European solidarity and collective defense are theoretical or real and effective.
“Imagine you are a division commander – tens of thousands of soldiers, thousands of vehicles. If today you receive an order to move out, you will have a very big headache. Your tanks and soldiers are constrained by bureaucracy. We currently have freedom of movement in Europe, but only if you are not in the military. Some member states require 45 days’ notice for troop movements. Customs officials in one EU member state once halted the movement of allied tanks. Why? Because they were heavier than traffic regulations allowed. So they had to be transported by sea. That took weeks instead of days,” he said.
He also complained about differing rules governing military movements at national and regional levels.
“While European soldiers are filling out permit documents, Russian soldiers will fill the Suwałki Corridor!” Kubilius warned. “Our peacetime rules are not suited for military mobility. Nor is our peacetime infrastructure. Moving troops from one end of Europe to the other can take weeks or even months. That will not deter Putin,” he stated.
He believes that in order to deter Russia, it is necessary to create a “military Schengen zone.”
Kubilius recalled that last November the European Commission presented the Military Mobility Package with binding EU rules to replace the “chaotic patchwork” of 27 different national regulations with a single, clear European rulebook, including simplified customs formalities and a unified notification procedure for movements.
“We will reduce movement times from weeks and months to days and hours,” the European Commissioner said. “In times of emergency, there should no longer be permits required for military movements. It should be sufficient to notify the country whose borders need to be crossed. And in peacetime, there should be one single European permit, valid across the entire European Union and issued within a maximum of three days. To accelerate the process, a new digital platform for cross-border transport permits and customs formalities should be created,” Kubilius said.
