Mobilization for defense
The EU's need to strengthen its own defense capacity is becoming increasingly clear.
Corina Cristea, 19.12.2025, 14:00
The geopolitical developments, including the war in Ukraine, the increased global competition, and the changes in the US security policy, are forcing Brussels to move towards a more robust, coherent, and interoperable defense model. The Union’s determination stems from the strategic need to be less dependent on other actors for the security of its own territories. NATO remains the main pillar of European defense, but member states are increasingly aware that without greater, coordinated, and targeted investments, Europe risks remaining vulnerable to conventional, hybrid, cyber, and energy threats. This is how the concept of strategic autonomy emerged, interpreted not as a separation from NATO, but as a complementary capability. And the most recent concrete initiative in this regard is the so-called military Schengen proposed by the European Commission, focused on the fact that mobility is crucial in a context where reaction time and logistics can decide the outcome of a military operation.
You must have the necessary antidote ready, says journalist Radu Tudor, a military analyst: “The threat is growing. The war is not over. Russia is becoming, from the point of view of the continent’s security, the biggest threat, and we must move a little faster. We have had, up to now, different speeds in implementing defense industry development projects, in implementing military mobility projects, and also in deploying new defense systems on NATO’s eastern flank. It takes too many days to move 50 Leclerc tanks to Romania. In case of need, God forbid, in the event of a Russian provocation to NATO, we need to shorten this time, because the prepositioning of troops and equipment is not enough. Obviously, troops, equipment, weapons, ammunition, logistics must come from 31 NATO member states – we are talking about Romania, and this is also valid for Poland, for the Baltic countries. So, from my point of view, the European Commission should quickly issue a binding regulation for all member states, to be implemented within 12 months, because it means amending agreements, elements of legislation and adapting the infrastructure to transport capacity for heavy equipment.”
There would be four objectives of the military Schengen – the rapid movement of troops and equipment within the Union; reducing cross-border bureaucracy; adapting civil infrastructure (bridges, railways, roads, ports) for military needs, and rapid reactions in crisis situations respectively. According to the Commission’s proposal, member states should allow the passage of troops within three days in peacetime and within just six hours in emergency situations, with simplified customs formalities, in this case only based on a notification between states. The pressure exerted by the crisis in Ukraine and Russia’s aggressiveness oblige Europe to this effort, which, above all, must come from building the deterrence capacity, says foreign policy analyst Victor Boştinaru, a former member of the European Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee.
Victor Boştinaru: “Europe does not intend to take any offensive action, contrary to Putin’s or Peskov’s speech. Europe must be convincing in terms of its deterrence capacity. And there are some areas that are already visibly taking shape. On the one hand, for the first time Europe is finally allocating money for building a defense capacity. This has not happened before, but there is only one solution for the European project to remain viable, a consistent defense capacity. The second thing is the need for Europe to already engage in the production of military equipment capable of competing and countering, on the one hand, the Russian threat, but, at the same time, to reduce, at least partially, its dependence on US supplies. Thirdly, this ambitious dual-purpose civil engineering construction project is already taking shape, faster than we suspected last year. It is about the construction of road-rail infrastructure capable of serving both the civilian and defense sectors. Infrastructure that could withstand heavy loads, highways, railways, bridges, capable of allowing the transfer of this equipment and personnel to potential combat zones, in a very short while. Last but not least, we are witnessing significant construction in the European defense industry, cooperation agreements or mergers in key areas, from the equivalent of Elon Musk’s satellite system to the design and construction of missiles and other defense systems.”
Increasing military mobility would mean both improving infrastructure in member states, and also an emergency mechanism to be activated by the Council of the European Union when, in the event of a crisis, large convoys of specific equipment and soldiers are to be moved. (LS)
