PARIS \u2014 As Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine raises the possibility of a major deployment on NATO\u2019s eastern flank, France continues to face bureaucratic hurdles that could slow down the rush of troops and tanks to the region, according to the French general in charge of coordinating military transport.<\/p>\n
Obtaining approval to cross neighboring countries by military convoy today takes much longer than a European Union target of five days \u2013 \u201cmore like tens of days,\u201d said Brig. Gen. Fabrice Feola, who commands France\u2019s Centre for Operations and Transport Support, in a briefing here on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The EU has vowed to address the bloc\u2019s remaining barriers to military mobility in a regulatory proposal<\/a> this year. The objective for military border-crossing procedures to take no more than five working days by the end of 2023 had \u201cprogress issues,\u201d the European Court of Auditors wrote in a February report<\/a>, with not all member countries meeting the target, and progress variable.<\/p>\n A conflict on NATO\u2019s eastern front could \u201cmobilize resources on a scale not seen in years,\u201d Feola said. \u201cEfforts have to be optimized to ensure continuity in projection, should we face a major engagement in the east, and in reception, particularly in our role as a host nation for allies on the Atlantic coast.\u201d<\/p>\n Europe\u2019s overground transportation network needs to mapped out better \u201con order to return to what we had during the Cold War,\u201d with no doubts or ambiguity about the capability of roads and railways to handle large flows, according to the general.<\/p>\n A major mobilization would create competition on the ground transport network, including from the United States, \u201cwho in the event of NATO plans being activated, would land on a massive scale on the Atlantic coast and would need to cross our country to reach positions further east,\u201d Feola said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis notion of competition inevitably leads us to coordinate at the international level in order to make the best possible use of the resources,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The amount of military equipment freighted across Europe jumped after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with NATO countries moving troops east, stepping up exercises and sending billions of euros worth of military equipment to Ukraine. That has put new emphasis on rail as the most cost-effective and speedy means of land transport to move kit such as tanks and ammunition over long distances.<\/p>\n France organized around 150 international military trains in 2024, according to Feola, compared with fewer than five such trains a year before Russia invaded Ukraine. The rail transports support a French battalion deployed in Romania, and include trains heading to Poland with equipment for Ukraine at an \u201cextremely regular interval.\u201d<\/p>\n The lessons learned from France\u2019s deployment to Romania have been \u201cextremely valuable\u201d for the Center for Operations and Transport Support, with force projection \u201con a scale rarely achieved in recent years,\u201d Feola said.<\/p>\n France is one of the few European countries to own a fleet of military rail wagons, together with Germany and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n \u201cRailways are an absolutely essential mode of transport, especially in a context where our center of gravity for operations has shifted from Africa to Europe, and particularly Eastern Europe,\u201d Feola said.<\/p>\n One issue taking a lot of time today is checking route feasibility, for example whether a tunnel can accommodate a train carrying military equipment, Feola said. For a new set of EU military mobility rules to be unveiled this year, France is pushing to identify corridors capable of handling military vehicles and convoys, with sufficiently large and sturdy tunnels, bridges and roads.<\/p>\n \u201cThe solution, and this is what we are currently working on, is to set up these corridors, these train paths, to avoid excessive processing times,\u201d Feola said.<\/p>\n