FOCUS – EU seeks faster military mobility in the face of Russia’s rising defence spending

BRUSSELS, 8 October /ATSH-AA/ – The European Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, called on European countries to speed up military mobility, warning that Russia’s increase in defence spending and production shows that Moscow is still “not being deterred”.

Speaking at the “Military Schengen 2026” Conference in Hamburg, Germany, Kubilius said Russia is expected to allocate 180 billion euros to its military budget for 2027, around 3 per cent more than the funds allocated this year.

“In purchasing power parity terms, next year Russia will spend the same amount, or even slightly more, than all EU member states,” he said.

Kubilius said Russia is also outpacing Europe in industrial defence production and is rapidly developing new military technologies, including drones.

“If day X were to come as regards a possible Russian aggression, we must understand that we would face a battle-tested Russian army, with the capacity to use 10 million drones a year,” he said.

He said this would mean around 30,000 drones a day, adding that Russia is preparing for “a prolonged war and confrontation”.

“Our defence readiness must be accelerated,” Kubilius said.

He stressed that Europe’s ability to deter aggression depends not only on defence spending and military procurement, but also on the ability to move troops and equipment quickly across the continent.

Kubilius said military mobility must be treated as an urgent operational requirement and not as a theoretical issue.

He called for an ambitious EU package on military mobility, which, according to him, should function effectively as a “Military Schengen”.

Kubilius said the EU should replace the current patchwork of 27 national systems with a single European regulation for military transport.

Under the proposed system, a single European permit would be valid across the EU and would be issued within a maximum period of three days, he said.

For emergency cases, Kubilius said the EU is proposing a new European Enhanced Military Mobility Response System, which could be activated by the EU Council.