News From Antiwar.com
Two
Reuters stories from today address the growing role of European Union military forces and the inclusion of non-EU NATO powers in joint endeavors with the EU.
A meeting of EU defense ministers scheduled for tomorrow is expected to approve the U.S., Canada and Norway (not a EU member) joining a project to expedite the transit of troops across the European continent in accordance with NATO demands for such streamlined deployments, which, as the report phrases it, NATO “sees as vital in the event of a conflict with Russia.”
The entire initiative is NATO’s, with the EU, as always, obligingly following suit. The expectation from the EU is that it will use its infrastructure budget to upgrade and modernize bridges, rails and roads to, one is tempted to say, NATOize transportation routes from the Atlantic to the Russian border. The EU has set aside 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) from its common budget to upgrade military mobility in support of NATO for the next seven years.