{"id":10640,"date":"2025-07-29T12:57:48","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T09:57:48","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-07-29T12:57:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T09:57:48","slug":"europes-roads-and-railways-are-not-ready-for-war-with-russia-says-eu-official","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/europes-roads-and-railways-are-not-ready-for-war-with-russia-says-eu-official\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe’s roads and railways are not ready for war with Russia, says EU official"},"content":{"rendered":"

The EU’s transport chief has stated that Europe’s roads, bridges, and railways are unsuitable for rapidly transporting tanks, soldiers, and military supplies across the continent in the event of a war with Russia.<\/p>\n

Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the European Commission’s transport commissioner, told<\/a><\/span> the Financial Times<\/em> that if NATO tanks were called upon to respond to an invasion by Moscow across the EU’s eastern border, they would get stuck in tunnels, cause bridges to collapse, and be bogged down by border protocols.<\/p>\n

Tzitzikostas aims to spend \u20ac17 billion to upgrade the continent’s infrastructure to enhance military mobility.<\/p>\n

“We have old bridges that need to be renovated. We have narrow bridges that need to be widened, and we have bridges that need to be built,” Tzitzikostas said.<\/p>\n

The Greek commissioner said it would be impossible to defend the continent if European armies cannot move quickly, asserting, “The reality today is that if we want to move military equipment and troops from the west to the east of Europe, it takes weeks, and in some cases, even months.”<\/p>\n

Much of the existing infrastructure was not built with the purpose of transporting armies within the bloc. While trucks on European roads typically weigh up to 40 tons, a tank can weigh as much as 70 tons.<\/p>\n

The bloc is preparing a strategy to improve 500 infrastructure projects along four military corridors spanning the continent, aiming to ensure troops can move “within hours, or at most a few days” in response to an attack.<\/p>\n

The projects, identified in collaboration with NATO and the alliance’s military commanders, are being kept secret for security reasons.<\/p>\n

Tzitzikostas said Brussels would also reduce bureaucratic hurdles to prevent tanks from getting “stuck in paperwork” when crossing borders.<\/p>\n

The strategy, which the transport commissioner will present later this year, is part of the continent’s war preparations spurred by warnings of a possible wider conflict with Moscow and plans to reduce the US security presence in Europe.<\/p>\n

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned alliance members in June that Russia could launch an attack on one of its members by 2030.<\/p>\n

The European Commission has indicated in its proposal for the bloc’s 2028-34 budget that it aims to invest \u20ac17 billion in military mobility, although senior EU diplomats have warned that this figure will likely be reduced during tense negotiations among EU countries before the budget is approved.<\/p>\n

Tzitzikostas said the military mobility plan would complement the decision by NATO allies to raise their defense spending target to 5% of GDP, with 1.5% of that allocated to security and defense-related infrastructure.<\/p>\n

“We can no longer afford to be unprepared or dependent,” Tzitzikostas said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The EU’s transport chief has stated that Europe’s roads, bridges, and railways are unsuitable for rapidly transporting tanks, soldiers, and military supplies across the continent in the event of a war with Russia. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the European Commission’s transport commissioner, told the Financial Times that if NATO tanks were called upon to respond to an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11672,11674,6312,610,3514,2518,11673,4291,11676,3845,7987,207,11675,2698,683,6478],"class_list":["post-10640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-apostolos-tzitzikostas","tag-bridges","tag-defense-spending","tag-eu","tag-eu-budget","tag-european-commission","tag-european-infrastructure","tag-mark-rutte","tag-military-corridors","tag-military-logistics","tag-military-mobility","tag-nato","tag-railways","tag-roads","tag-russia","tag-war-with-russia"],"yoast_head":"\nEurope's roads and railways are not ready for war with Russia, says EU official - 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