Military cooperation in the European Union will be strengthened as the 27-country bloc is working for the first time in one of its projects with external partners such as the US, Canada and Norway, Germany said on Thursday.

“This will be a major step forward in terms of solid cooperation,” Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said for more than a year before the first in-person meeting with his EU colleagues in Brussels.

The purpose of the EU’s military mobility project is to ease the movement of troops across Europe, which NATO considers necessary in the event of conflict with Russia.

While NATO has pledged to reduce conflicting rules for the transfer of US troops to 27 EU countries, the EU has a budget to rebuild bridges that are too weak for tanks and overpowered That change block-wide rules.

“Talking about military mobility and ensuring that the military can cross borders within Europe is a very important issue not only for the European Union, but also for NATO,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said.

The decision, officially taken by the EU defense ministers on Thursday, means that NATO members Norway, Canada and the United States also join the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in the EU agreement to deepen defense ties. Will be the first foreign country. continue reading

The agreement was agreed to by the Heads of State and Government of the European Union in December 2017 following the annexation of Crimea by Russia by Ukraine in 2014.

Since then, NATO has provided 1.7 billion euros from its joint budget by 2028 to improve so-called military mobility in support of NATO. The NATO alliance has 30 partners, many of whom are also members of the European Union.

The aim of military mobility is to improve the exchange of information between EU countries and reduce the administrative burden on the border, including enabling faster deployment and easier transport of military equipment through harmonization of customs regulations. is.

At its meeting in Brussels, the EU defense minister will also discuss the situation on the Ukrainian border, where Russia concentrated tens of troops a few weeks ago, said EU foreign policy official Joseph Borel.

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