EU sets up rapid troop and equipment deployment system
Photo: The EU is forming a network for the rapid deployment of NATO forces (Getty Images)
The European Union is creating a new system for the rapid deployment of troops and equipment across the territory of member states. The aim of the initiative is to ensure the operational mobility of forces in the event of a military threat, particularly from Russia, according to Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation.
The EU plans to introduce a special system that will significantly reduce the time required to transport military units, armored vehicles, and weapons between countries in the bloc.
It will cover logistics, transport infrastructure, and bureaucratic procedures that currently slow down the movement of forces.
The project will become part of the EU's common defense policy and should strengthen the security of its eastern flank.
The initiative provides for the creation of a single digital mechanism to coordinate actions between member states and respond more quickly in crisis situations.
“This is not a bureaucratic initiative, but an operational integration of the EU and NATO defense infrastructure. For the first time, the European Commission is taking on a coordinating role in military logistics, an area that was previously the exclusive competence of national governments,” he said.
Poland, Germany, Romania, the Netherlands, and the Baltic states will become key transit hubs.
This week, the US began a large-scale reduction of its military presence in Eastern Europe.
About 800 American troops are being withdrawn from Romania, and there are plans to reduce the contingent in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Hungary.
US President Donald Trump announced at the beginning of the year that he wanted to reduce the American military contingent in Europe by 20%.
In the spring, it became known that Europeans feared that they would not be warned in advance and would learn from the media that thousands of American troops were being withdrawn from the continent.
