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Lift the Tollgates: Europe Needs Cross-Border Military Mobility

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Lift the Tollgates: Europe Needs Cross-Border Military Mobility October 2017 22/2017 Leo Michel The Finnish Institute of International Affairs Lift the tollgates: Europe needs greater cross-border military mobility European militaries, including Finland’s, increasingly train, carry out exercises, and deploy together across the continent under EU, NATO, or national auspices, often with American and Canadian units. Speed of manoeuvre can be critical for deterrence and defence, so cross-border procedures for military transport and troops must be simplified and standardized, while respecting national sovereignty. “Amateurs talk strategy, but profes- More frustrating, perhaps, are the In principle, NATO’s Very High sionals talk logistics,” according to many different legal and procedural Readiness Joint Task Force (a land the military adage. Hence, when hurdles that American, European, brigade of about 5,000 troops, plus Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the and Canadian commanders have air and maritime support) should be US army commander in Europe, dis- confronted when crossing borders. able to deploy within very few days, cusses US, allied, and partner efforts In a recent interview, Hodges with up to 40,000 troops in the full to strengthen their deterrence and complained that his units have to NATO Response Force able to follow defence posture following the 2014 “submit a list of all the vehicles, the shortly thereafter. But if delayed Russian intervention in Ukraine, he drivers, what’s in every truck” – at border crossings, their longer never fails to mention one of his big- time-consuming procedures that response time would equate to a gest headaches: the multiple physical are not normally applied to large lesser deterrent and, if deterrence and administrative bottlenecks that commercial carriers. His convoys, he fails, to a weaker defence. can slow the military’s movements. added, sometimes wait for weeks for This explains why Hodges’ desire US forces are not the only ones permission to move through certain to improve cross-border military concerned. EU member states, for countries. (Each German Land has its mobility has been gaining traction example, must move hardware own requirements.) And when troop in both NATO and the EU. To his and soldiers across borders to train movements are involved, rank does credit, Hodges no longer refers to their rapid response “battlegroups”. not always have its privileges: during the need for a “military Schengen”, Sweden’s recent Aurora 17 exercise an exercise last summer, Hodges’ having recognized that such termi- – its largest territorial defence drill military flight from Bulgaria to a nology is inappropriate. (Only 22 in decades – included units from Romanian training site was diverted allies are EU members, and not all Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, so that Romanian authorities could EU members are in the Schengen Lithuania, Norway and the US. stamp his passport. zone.) And to their credit, a half- Instances of the problem abound. This may sound like a trivial dozen nations, including Finland, When Hodges sought to move problem, but it is not. As demon- have proposed an initiative within armoured and other heavy vehicles strated in their recent large-scale the EU’s “Permanent Structured to and from the Baltic states or Zapad drills and multiple “snap” Cooperation” context to simplify and Romania, his forces discovered exercises, Russian forces are standardize cross-border military bridges and roadways unable to modernizing and practising their transport procedures that would ap- support their weight. Upgrading capabilities to deploy rapidly and ply to militaries operating in a NATO those routes and addressing other impede NATO’s ability to come context as well. infrastructure gaps – which involve, to the aid of a threatened ally or This makes sense, and builds on for example, NATO’s guaranteed partner. During Zapad, for example, solid precedents. Under EU auspices, access to sufficient rail cars and fuel it is doubtful that Russian units centres that coordinate European pipelines and storage facilities – will were delayed by Belarussian border military transportation resources and take time and money. checks. movements have agreed on a single 2 Finnish Institute of procedure for diplomatic clearances. Still, European governments and International Affairs Since its summits in Wales (2014) citizens live in a security environ- Kruunuvuorenkatu 4 and Warsaw (2016), NATO has been ment where speed of military ma- POB 400 chipping away at the larger problem noeuvre can help deter risk-taking 00161 Helsinki of parliamentary regulations on or aggression by others. And the troop transits; in some cases, pre- military’s rapid response capability Telephone notification requirements dropped needs to be exercised to be credible. +358 (0)9 432 7000 from 30 days to a few hours. Hence, cutting red tape and lifting Such efforts, especially if well- real and virtual tollgates should not Fax coordinated between NATO and the be too much to ask for. +358 (0)9 432 7799 EU, will benefit partners like Finland and Sweden, which have stepped up www.f iia.f i their cooperation with each other, with the United States, with other regional partners (like Norway), and with the Alliance writ large. Other synergies could address the infrastructure challenges, perhaps by coordinating NATO investment projects with those eligible for EU structural funds. To be clear, improving cross- border military mobility does not imply that EU member states (or al- lies) would surrender their sovereign right to decide whether and, if so, how to participate in a given exercise The Finnish Institute of International Affairs is an or military operation. Nor would independent research institute that produces high-level research to support political decision-making and it mean that participating nations public debate both nationally and internationally. would be obliged to drop sensible safety regulations, for example, on All manuscripts are reviewed by at least two other the shipment of hazardous materials. experts in the field to ensure the high quality Military authorities and national of the publications. In addition, publications transportation and safety authorities undergo professional language checking and editing. The responsibility for the views would no doubt need to meet each expressed ultimately rests with the authors. other halfway..
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