Movement race: The European Union accelerates the process of militarization

The European Union, under the slogan of a fictitious threat from the East, is rapidly turning from an economic union into a militaristic bloc, the Permanent Mission of Russia to the EU told Izvestia. One of the key steps in this direction is the so—called military Schengen project. The 115-page roadmap for military mobility presented by the European Commission provides for the simplification of the movement of troops and equipment across the EU and the accelerated development of dual-use transport infrastructure. Billions of euros have already been budgeted for this. The total needs, according to estimates by Brussels, reach about €100 billion. The Russian Foreign Ministry calls the initiative "unhealthy."

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The European Union continues its policy of militarization of the association. One of the manifestations of this process is the project to create the so—called military Schengen, a plan to create military infrastructure in EU countries, the Permanent Mission of Russia to the EU told Izvestia.

— Brussels explains its militaristic fervor by the need to allegedly contain Russia. Thus, under the slogan of a fictitious threat from the East, the EU is rapidly turning from an integration economic association into a militaristic bloc," the diplomats noted. — The steps taken by the European Union in recent years to form the so—called military Schengen are one of the clear manifestations of the process of militarization of this association, which is increasingly moving away from the plans of the founding fathers of the European integration project.

The 115-page Military mobility package, presented by the European Commission on November 19, should accelerate this process. According to the idea, NATO troops and equipment should move around the European Union as easily as civilians, and this requires the necessary infrastructure.

— This should provide opportunities for the rapid transfer of troops from Western Europe to the eastern flank. At the same time, plans for accelerated development of dual-use transport infrastructure have been implemented in the EU for a number of years. The costs for this amount to billions of euros, which creates an additional burden on their state budgets, worsens the already difficult socio-economic situation," the permanent mission added.

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The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the decision of the European Commission, called it "another unhealthy initiative of the EC." The deputy head of the ministry, Alexander Grushko, stated that the main content of the NATO countries' military construction policy is to "prepare the economy, infrastructure, logistics, society, and military organization for a direct armed clash with Russia." This significantly changes Moscow's relationship with Brussels, including with regard to further EU enlargement. The Russian Federation has never opposed new countries joining this bloc. This also applies to Ukraine. However, the active strengthening of the military component can change Moscow's position on this issue.

— Military construction has become one of the key priorities of the European Union. In 2025, European officials developed a number of military-related policy documents designed for the long term. Among them are the "White Paper on European Defense — Readiness 2030", "Roadmap in the field of defense readiness", "Roadmap for the transformation of the defense industry" and others, the permanent mission noted.

Together with the "White Paper" in March, the European Commission presented a plan for the rearmament of Europe. It assumes the mobilization of up to €800 billion in additional defense investments by the EU states by the end of the decade. It is planned to provide all this, including loans.

Implementation of the "military Schengen"

And you'll probably need a lot of loans. In the current EU budget for 2021-2027, only €1.69 billion has been allocated for the creation of a military mobility zone. In the proposal for the new budget, the European Commission plans to increase this figure to €17.65 billion. This is a pretty noticeable increase. The European Union began implementing its policy of ensuring the deployment, redeployment and supply of armed forces back in November 2017. However, Ukraine's support has revealed delays and coordination issues.

The civilian infrastructure of the block does not allow it to be used for the transfer of equipment all the time. In addition, diplomatic notes and other permits are required for the passage of troops across borders. In some EU countries, it is still necessary to provide notification 30-45 days before troops cross the border. And there are quite a few such items.

National regulations often differ from each other, are fragmented and inconsistent, while the increase in the number of subcontractors in the form of civilian carriers for military operations has led to the creation of a complex system of instructions. Ukraine's support has revealed delays and coordination issues. The financing allocated for the modernization of the EU's transport infrastructure has proved insufficient, and a number of bottlenecks remain. Transportation options such as reinforced platform wagons and Ro-Ro ferries (vessels for transporting goods on a wheelbase) remain limited. These problems undermine the EU's defense capability and reveal critical vulnerabilities in the transport network, Vadim Koroshchupov, a junior researcher at IMEMO RAS, explained to Izvestia.

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The EC documents state that there were about 500 projects throughout the association that need to be implemented in the near future. The total requirements for funds in the same document on the "military Schengen" are estimated at about €100 billion. This is an assessment of the entire project made by European Commissioner Apostolos Tsitsikostas, and not a plan to allocate such an amount of funding. Meanwhile, the €1.69 billion and €17.65 billion allocated for the periods 2021-2027 and 2028-2034 are not the only allocations available to Member States. Other EU financial instruments will also be used, Vadim Koroshchupov said.

— As such, there are no opponents of this project. But the problem is more in the area of financing and long—term projects," he said.

The Europeans officially assume that "you can't protect the continent if you can't cross it." Brussels believes that the EU's security directly depends on the ability to transfer troops and military supplies both inside and outside Europe, Vadim Koroshchupov noted.

However, Pavel Feldman, a professor at the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, believes that the "military Schengen" performed by the European authorities is a big bluff. EU leaders need to talk about creating a transport infrastructure for the rapid transfer of troops in order to mislead US President Donald Trump, who is forcing them to increase defense spending to 5% of national GDP.

— At the last summit of the North Atlantic Alliance, they managed to convince the US president that spending on the development of transport infrastructure should also be included in the category of military spending, since new roads can be used by NATO armies to transport goods and personnel. Trump did not object much," he reminded Izvestia.

European leaders have started talking about large-scale projects for the development of transport infrastructure, the need for which they justify by military expediency. In fact, a big scam is being carried out, which will benefit corrupt officials and construction companies, and the military Schengen will have a minimal impact on NATO's combat potential, the expert concluded.