THE European Union authorised the United States, Canada and Norway to join its Military Mobility project today – allowing their troops “unhindered” movement within the bloc.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the move would “make EU defence more efficient and … strengthen our security” by speeding up the transfer of armies across the continent. The US has over 70,000 soldiers stationed in Europe and is currently leading nearly 30,000 allied troops in the Defender Europe 2021 military manoeuvres along Russia’s borders from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
The decision is likely to be seen as a threat by Russia, coming the same day that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to speed up Kiev’s integration into Nato and the EU.
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aims to increase the speed at which militaries can be deployed across Europe.
The Netherlands-led “military mobility” project seeks to slash bureaucratic waiting times and upgrade infrastructure including bridges, rail and roads. About €1.7 billion ($2.05bn) over the next seven years was
earmarked by the EU
for the project.
Germany’s Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said it was a “quantum leap in concrete co-operation when it comes to ensuring that troops can be deployed in Europe across national borders”.
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“This is a very important topic, not only for the European Union, but also for Nato,” she said.
It is the first time the EU has opened Permanent Structured Co-operation (Pesco) to non-member states. The approval came as EU defence ministers met in Brussels.
With An Eye On Russia, EU Opens Military Mobility Project To NATO Allies
May 06, 2021 15:02 GMT
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May 06, 2021 16:32 GMT
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The European Union has approved the participation of NATO members the United States, Canada, and Norway in a project aimed at speeding up the movement of troops and military equipment around Europe.
The May 6 decision marks the first time the EU has opened up an initiative from its Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) pact, which aims to deepen defense ties, to outside partners.
The pact was agreed by EU leaders in December 2017 amid heightened tensions between the West and Moscow over Russia s aggression in Ukraine.Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March 2014 and has been backing separatists in eastern Ukraine in a war that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
United States among first foreign countries to join European Union defence project, diplomats say
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Last Updated: May 05, 2021, 03:58 PM IST
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Synopsis
The decision, to be formally taken by EU defence ministers on Thursday, means NATO members Norway, Canada and the United States also become the first foreign countries to collaborate in the EU s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) pact, which aims to deepen defence ties.
Reuters
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, in this file picture taken October 28, 2015
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The European Union will allow the United States, Norway and Canada to join a project to overcome delays in moving troops across Europe, diplomats said on Wednesday, which NATO sees as vital in the event of a conflict with Russia.
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Two
Reuters stories from today address the growing role of European Union military forces and the inclusion of non-EU NATO powers in joint endeavors with the EU.
A meeting of EU defense ministers scheduled for tomorrow is expected to approve the U.S., Canada and Norway (not a EU member) joining a project to expedite the transit of troops across the European continent in accordance with NATO demands for such streamlined deployments, which, as the report phrases it, NATO “sees as vital in the event of a conflict with Russia.”
The entire initiative is NATO’s, with the EU, as always, obligingly following suit. The expectation from the EU is that it will use its infrastructure budget to upgrade and modernize bridges, rails and roads to, one is tempted to say, NATOize transportation routes from the Atlantic to the Russian border. The EU has set aside 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) from its common budget to upgrade military mobility in support of NATO for th