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Europe is moving towards creating a “military Schengen”: 17 billion euros for express transport of military troops

2025-08-05 21:10:13Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Europe is moving towards creating a “military Schengen”: 17 billion
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Europe is moving towards a “Military Schengen” in order to ensure the ability to transport military equipment in the shortest possible time. The needs for transporting tanks, heavy vehicles and even medical equipment due to the war in Ukraine have shown that the cross-border permits and bureaucratic procedures required today have delayed such transfers by up to 3 weeks, a time that could be fatal in times of crisis. The aim, through the “Military Schengen”, is to reduce the 3 weeks to two to three days.

Europeans' fear of Russia brings the military mobility program to the forefront of the Union's planning for the coming years, as the key to preventing any danger.

Cross-border permits

This “Schengen” includes the infrastructure, cross-border permits and the means (such as special tank wagons, heavy vehicles and medical vehicles) needed to enable the transport of troops and military equipment across Europe – quickly, smoothly and on a large scale. The new budget is expected to allocate 17 billion euros.

The programme is managed by Greek Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and the fact that the money to be allocated is ten times greater shows the importance the EU attaches to this programme. Europe has discovered that it needs a network of roads, railways, ports and airports that meet both the needs of citizens and military specifications – to cope, for example, with large and overweight vehicles. To a large extent, it is not envisaged to build entirely new infrastructure, but rather to adapt existing ones for dual use, military and political, with civilians as their main users.

However, beyond infrastructure projects, the aim of the programme is to extend the free movement of people and goods between member states to military mobility, as current bureaucracy significantly delays such movements. This is often due to the transport of hazardous materials or large transports that require time-consuming checks.

“We need to simplify these procedures. We want member states to commit to providing diplomatic clearance within three working days. The Armed Forces should have priority access to infrastructure and assets, both in times of crisis and peace”, – the draft emphasizes. This specific program is the main point of EU-NATO cooperation and gains greater importance after the commitment last June, at the Alliance Summit in The Hague, that states will invest 5% of their GDP in Defense by 2035.

As EU sources point out, “ in 2017, the EU conducted a military exercise that highlighted various weaknesses. This led to the creation of the first budget line for military mobility of 1.7 billion euros. They were allocated to 95 projects, in 21 countries. Since then, the world has changed. War, aggression, hostile actions have returned to our continent.

The current geopolitical situation requires that EU member states and allied forces be able to react quickly and massively to crises erupting in Europe and beyond.”

4 corridors

Together with NATO, the European External Action Service and the EU Military Staff, the Transport Committee has developed 4 priority corridors for military mobility. The next step is to improve the infrastructure of these dual-use corridors. There is now a priority list of more than 500 projects across the EU, out of a total of 2,800 proposed by Member States. The list has been discussed with military experts from NATO and the EU Military Staff, who have indicated the main military priorities.

The projects include strengthening bridges, widening tunnels, adding bypass lines, expanding ports and airports, and developing convoy support centers. Funding will be based on their maturity for implementation and there is no quota per country.


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