BRUSSELS - Germany, the Netherlands and Poland signed a deal on Jan 30 aimed at cutting red tape hampering swift cross-border movement of troops and weapons along one of the main corridors leading from the North Sea to Nato’s eastern flank.

As a result of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, both Nato and the European Union have started to speed up preparations in case a military conflict with Moscow erupts.

In such a scenario, the United States and other Nato allies would be expected to send major military reinforcements via North Sea ports across Germany and Poland to the eastern front.

Nato is currently conducting its largest military drills since the end of the Cold War in the exercise Steadfast Defender 2024, involving some 90,000 troops.

Speaking at an event at the EU’s European Defence Agency in Brussels, Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren said it was crucial to have in place conditions allowing for swift military deployments before any possible conflict arose.

“The geography is what it is. That means you have to be able to move quickly from the Netherlands through Germany to Poland,” she said before the three countries signed a letter of intent for closer cooperation in what the EU calls military mobility, a project open to additional partners.

Nato has warned its members that too much red tape is hindering troop movements across Europe, a problem that could cause major delays were a conflict with Russia to erupt.

“We are running out of time. What we don’t get done in peacetime won’t be ready in case of a crisis or a war,” the chief of Nato’s logistics command JSEC, Lieutenant-General Alexander Sollfrank, told Reuters late in 2023.

Nato forces still need to navigate a variety of differing regulations, stretching from the advance notice required before ammunition can be shipped to the permissible length of military convoys. REUTERS