NATO countries may agree on the introduction of the "military Schengen" system, which will guarantee the free movement of military convoys, before the summit of the alliance in Washington in July. This was reported by the British newspaper The Times, citing its sources.
The head of NATO's Joint Logistics and Materiel Command (JSEC), General Alexander Zollfrank, confirmed in an interview with the publication that the bloc is interested in reducing the number of bureaucratic regulations to increase its mobility. In addition, the military commander advocated for increased cooperation between the member states of the alliance on the issue of equipment interchangeability. In particular, he considered it wrong to prohibit parachutists from one country from using parachutes from other countries.
In the autumn of 2017, the EU and NATO committed to the creation of the "military Schengen" system. The initiative, initially expressed by several Baltic politicians, was actively supported by Federica Mogherini, the then head of the EU diplomatic service. The formation of this system was the main objective of the EU's Permanent Structured Military Partnership (PESCO) program created in the same year, one of the key elements of which were projects to expand and strengthen European transport infrastructure, including roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, ports and airports so that as many highways as possible can be used to deliver heavy and bulky equipment.
At the same time, European countries began to discuss harmonizing their widely divergent regulations for the transport of military and other dangerous goods, especially explosives. All this was to lead to the creation of a "military Schengen" - a system that would ideally allow convoys to cross the whole of Europe with a single permit, stopping only for refueling and rest. This initiative was actively supported by NATO. With the launch of the PESCO program, the interaction between the Alliance and the EU has strengthened significantly./BGNES
