EU Report

Bulgaria, Greece and Romania will create a corridor for the transfer of troops to the eastern flank of NATO. Bulgaria, Greece and Romania signed an agreement on the creation of a corridor for the transfer of troops. The decision was made in order to strengthen the defense capabilities of the countries of the region and increase military mobility on the eastern flank of NATO, said Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias. Such a corridor will allow for a quick response to potential security threats. In the fall, the parties to the agreement will hold a trilateral meeting in Alexandroupolis, Greece, to discuss the implementation of the announced measures. The military corridor involves the unification of four ports and their infrastructure. It will connect Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis with Varna in Bulgaria and Constanta in Romania - these four cities are strategically important for NATO due to their proximity to the eastern borders of the alliance. The corridor will facilitate the movement of the military in Europe and beyond, and will also allow for unhindered crossing of border points during missions, which will significantly reduce the time for the transfer of troops. In addition, Europe's largest NATO base with an area of 30 km² is being built in Romania. In the future, it will accommodate 10.000 military personnel along with families and civilian personnel. The facility will be created through the expansion of the 57th Romanian Air Force Air Base "Mihail Kogalniceanu", located on the Black Sea coast. Part of the personnel of the German Ramstein Air Base will soon be transferred to the facility, as the interests of the North Atlantic Alliance are increasingly shifting to the east due to the ongoing russian aggression in Ukraine. Washington Summit Declaration declaration, released on July 10, states that Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to the alliance. The war in Ukraine "has disrupted peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and seriously undermined global security." Therefore NATO is preparing several corridors in case of war with Russia in order to be able to quickly transfer its troops and weapons to the front line. 🇪🇺@EU_Report 🇧🇬🇷🇴🇬🇷

Poland, France, Germany and Italy have agreed to jointly develop long-range missiles. Four NATO countries - Poland, France, Germany and Italy - have agreed to jointly develop cruise missiles with a range of more than 500 km to increase the alliance's defense capability, the Polish Ministry of National Defense told PAP. "The goal is to establish cooperation in the development of our key capabilities in the field of deep strikes, and in the future - joint projects on specific solutions that will fill the gaps, reduce costs and reduce the implementation time," the Polish Defense Ministry notes. They added that such missiles with a range of more than 500 km are capable of hitting targets deep behind enemy lines, the creation of such a system could fill the gap that now exists in this area in European arsenals. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu told Bloomberg that the details of the new missile system are still being worked out. He also called on other European countries to join the development of such weapons. "This is clearly a segment that we do not have," the minister said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington. At the moment, European countries have only two such missiles - the French-British Storm Shadow (SCALP) and the German Taurus. The maximum range of these missiles is about 500 km. The day before, Berlin and Washington announced that American long-range weapons would deployed in Germany in 2026 on a rotational basis. These measures are aimed at strengthening the European deterrence system. After full deployment, the units will be equipped with Tomahawk missiles capable of destroying targets at a distance of up to 2500 kilometers, SM-6 and new hypersonic weapons, which have a significantly longer range than the weapons in service in Europe now. The German Defense Minister Pistorius explained that the American deployment will give Western countries "exactly the time that is needed" to develop your own tools of this type. The German Spiegel noted that the reason was the growing threat from Russia, which is increasing the arsenal of long-range conventional weapons. In particular, Moscow has deployed a significant number of such missiles in the Kaliningrad region. 🇪🇺@EU_Report 🇵🇱🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹

Baltic Sea nations to jointly purchase naval mines to protect their territorial waters. Germany and eight other countries on the Baltic Sea aim to jointly procure naval mines, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said, as russia is taking an increasingly assertive stance in the Baltic Sea region. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, Pistorius said russia had been challenging the borders in the Baltic Sea time and again. "Just recently we have seen how Russia tries to extend russian territorial waters outside Kaliningrad. We are all unmistakably clear that we will not allow such advances," he said. "To that end, we need the necessary capabilities for deterrence and defence, one of them being naval mines." The eight countries seeking to jointly procure naval mines with Germany are Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. Source 🇪🇺@EU_Report @freerussia_report

Poland will almost triple the number of soldiers involved in the protection of the border with Belarus. "On August 1, Operation Safe Podlasie will begin, the purpose of which is to support Border Guard personnel. One of the elements of the operation is to increase the number of armed forces on the border to 17 thousand soldiers," Polish Deputy Minister of National Defense Pawel Beida told the PAP news agency. Now 6.000 Polish soldiers are serving on the border. After increasing the number of border guards, 8.000 of them will directly guard the country's borders, and 9.000 will be in reserve, Beida added: "If something happens on the border, these 9,000 soldiers will go to the border within 48 hours with all their equipment and weapons to protect it. It will be a rapid border reaction force." Also, according to the deputy minister, the Polish Ministry of Defense will additionally purchase 150 armored vehicles to protect the border. In recent months, the situation with migrants trying to illegally cross the Polish border from Belarus has deteriorated significantly. During one of several attacks by illegal immigrants on Polish border guards, one Polish soldier died. In connection with the escalation of the situation, Warsaw decided to reinstall a 200-meter buffer zone, where outsiders are forbidden to enter. The Polish authorities resorted to a similar measure during the migration crisis arranged by Moscow and Minsk in 2021-2022. Also last summer, the Polish border service completed the construction of a 206-kilometer-long fence on the border with Belarus. 🇪🇺@EU_Report 🇵🇱

Canada takes step to acquire up to 12 submarines to guard Arctic. Canada, looking to shore up its defense of the Arctic, is moving ahead to acquire up to 12 submarines and has started a formal process to meet with manufacturers, the defense ministry said on Wednesday. Canada updated its defense policy this year with a focus on protecting the Arctic and dealing with challenges from Russia and China. The procurement of submarines is a critical step in implementing that strategy. Citing global warming, Canada says the Arctic Ocean could become the most efficient shipping route between Europe and East Asia By 2050, thus raising the need to bolster maritime security. "As the country with the longest coastline in the world, Canada needs a new fleet of submarines," Defence Minister Bill Blair said in the statement. After meeting manufacturers, the ministry in autumn will post a formal request for information on the procurement, construction, delivery and operational capabilities of potential bidders. Ottawa has been under U.S. pressure to boost defense spending to meet the 2% of gross domestic product agreed to by NATO allies in 2023. The defense policy update in April outlined billions more for the armed forces, including money for submarines, to take spending to 1.76% of GDP by 2030, up from the current 1.4%. Source 🇪🇺@EU_Report 🇨🇦

Allies launch strategic initiatives to enhance capabilities. In a significant step towards enhancing Allied defence and technological integration across the air, space and cyber domains, Defence Ministers from 24 NATO Allies* signed a series of ground-breaking multinational initiatives at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum. The Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS) programme marks the largest multinational investment in space-based capabilities in NATO’s history. APSS is set to boost the Alliance’s ability to monitor activities on the ground and at sea with unprecedented accuracy and timeliness. * Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, United Kingdom, United States Meanwhile, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden signed a Declaration of Cooperation on Cross-Border Airspace. It will ensure that Allied civil and military authorities are able to establish and use more airspace from the five participating countries for NATO training and exercises, and other air activities within the Nordic region. Video: Keynote speech by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Defense Industry Forum, 09 July 2024. 🇪🇺@EU_Report

Georgia on a slippery road EU freezes $32 million in defense funds for Georgia, halts accession process amid ‘low point’ in relations due to Moscow interference in the country. Brussels has frozen 30 million euros ($32 million) in defense sector funding for Georgia after halting its EU accession process in June, EU Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski said on July 9. EU granted candidate status to Georgia at the end of 2023, but relations with Tbilisi deteriorated after Georgia's parliament passed a "foreign agents" law despite mass protests and a veto by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili. The law mirrors repressive russian legislation used to crack down on Kremlin regime critics, leading Washington and Brussels to denounce the bill as incompatible with democratic values. The European Council sated on June 27 that the law represents a back-sliding on the steps set out for Georgia's candidate status, "de facto leading to a halt of the accession process." The EU has now frozen its support for Georgia from the European Peace Facility (EPF), "which amounts to 30 million euros ($32 million) for 2024," Herczynski announced. "Other measures are being considered if the situation further deteriorates," adding that "it is sad to see EU-Georgia relations at such a low point, when they could have been at an all-time high." The EPF assists in funding security and defense to EU partners, including Moldova, North Macedonia, and the African Union. 🇪🇺@EU_Report 🇬🇪

A coalition of left-wing parties won the parliamentary elections in France. In France, the second round of parliamentary elections took place on Sunday. The pro-presidential center-right bloc "Together for the Republic" has lost its majority in parliament. In terms of the number of mandates, it was overtaken by the alliance of left-wing parties "New People's Front". The far-right National Rally, which won in the first round, is third. The turnout in the second round was 66.6 percent. In many cases, representatives of rival parties called for voting for left-wing candidates before the second round in order to prevent the victory of the far right. The New People's Front received 182 mandates, according to the results published by the newspaper Le Monde. The pro-presidential coalition "Together for the Republic" - 168 seats. A number of its candidates were called for by the left in districts where they could not show convincing results. The National Rally receives 143 seats. The Republicans have 45 seats. The rest of the associations received a total of 39 seats. At the same time, not a single political force managed to get a majority in parliament. There are 577 deputies in the French National Assembly, 289 seats are needed for a majority. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has notified President Emmanuel Macron that he is ready to resign. Macron can appoint the prime minister himself, but the Elysee Palace said that the president will wait until the final configuration of parliament is formed. The "New Popular Front" was made up of political forces between which there are quite large programmatic differences: the radical "Unbowed France" of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, more moderate socialists, as well as the "Greens" and the communists. Before the elections, however, the association came up with a common program, in which, among other things, it promised to continue supporting Ukraine, including the supply of weapons, and to consider the possibility of sending the military to protect Ukrainian nuclear power plants. The New Popular Front managed to secure a decisive win, surpassing both the incumbent presidential camp and the far-right National Rally party, which had been widely expected to perform strongly. This unexpected triumph was seen as a significant blow to the political establishment and a clear mandate for the left’s ambitious agenda. Commenting on the results of the elections in France, the Prime Minister of Poland published on X: "There is enthusiasm in Paris, disappointment in Moscow, relief in Kyiv. Enough to be happy in Warsaw." 🇪🇺 @EU_Report 🇫🇷

The new Prime Minister of Britain promised to support Ukraine. The new UK government will continue to support Ukraine in the war with Russia, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, The Guardian reports. According to the head of the Cabinet, he has already told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about this by phone and will confirm his position together with NATO allies at the summit in Washington, which will be held on July 9-11. Earlier, Starmer said that if he wins the election, he will fulfill the Conservatives' promise to spend at least 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) a year on military assistance to Ukraine. The head of the Cabinet also announced his intention to increase UK military spending to 2.5% of GDP. Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that he spoke with the new British prime minister by phone. "I am grateful to Keir Starmer for his assurances that the UK's support for Ukraine will remain invariably principled," the president said. Zelensky added that Kyiv and London are preparing to sign an "unprecedented" cooperation agreement for a period of 100 years. At the beginning of the year, the countries signed an agreement on security guarantees for ten years. The United Kingdom has committed itself to providing Ukraine with comprehensive assistance to protect and restore territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. London also promised to counter any military escalation and new aggression from Russia and support Ukraine's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions, including NATO. 🇪🇺@EU_Report 🇬🇧

The Czech Republic has banned the entry of Russians using old-style passports From July 3, the Czech authorities will allow only ten-year biometric passports of the new generation said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky. “Security is a priority for our government. We will not wait for another sabotage. Anyone who wants to stay in our country must prove that he is the person he claims to be." adding "In case of a Russian passport with non-biometric information, which was used by the killers [Russian agents who blew up ammunition storages – ed.] Vrbětice, will not be enough. I will also work on limiting the movements of Russian diplomats in the Schengen zone since it is another spying tool used against democratic countries." Czechia reported its decision at the meeting of the competent body of the EU and urged other countries to take similar measures. "If a Russian citizen shows a non-biometric passport in Czechia, then their stay is illegal, and the consequence of it is currently being decided. Non-biometric passports are way easier to modify and falsify," Mariana Wernerová from the Czech Foreign Ministry’s communication department stated. The department’s press service noted that they are “ still trying to figure out what to do” with Russians who are already in the country on a passport for five years. At the end of April, Czech police completed their investigation into two explosions at ammunition depots in the village of Vrbetice, which occurred on October 16 and December 3, 2014. The explosions killed two people. According to the investigation, the incident was organized by russian military intelligence and carried out by agents Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin. Law enforcement officials report that in the Czech Republic they used Tajik and Moldovan passports, while possessing Russian documents with the names Boshirov and Petrov. In 2021, the Czech Republic expelled 18 employees of the russian embassy in Prague from the country and put two Russians on the wanted list - Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov. All of them were identified as employees of the russian special services. Previously, Denmark restricted the entry of Russians with five-year international passports without biometrics. @freerussia_report