"We Can't Even Pack Up Without the U.S. Military?"... Europe Pours 650 Trillion Won into Unprecedented Strategic Autonomy [Global Focus]

Shortages across the board, from military railways to IT infrastructure
Diverging views among member states... Cost sharing emerges as a key challenge

Romanian soldiers training with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in the Chinku area of central Romania on the 9th (local time). Photo by AFP Yonhap

Following the United States' attempt to annex Greenland, the European Union (EU) has been making every effort to reduce its dependence on the United States in the field of defense, with the construction of defense infrastructure emerging as the top priority. It is forecast that over the next 10 years, at least about one-fifth of total defense spending will have to be devoted solely to building defense infrastructure, raising concerns about how to secure the necessary funding. Above all, an emergency alert has effectively been declared across Europe after it was found that, in the event of a contingency, it would take more than two months just to transport supplies to Eastern Europe without assistance from U.S. forces. In preparation for a potential future withdrawal of the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the EU is also accelerating efforts to build its own satellite communications network and overhaul its military IT networks.

EU joint defense spending soars 75% in five years...120 trillion won invested annually in defense infrastructure alone

According to the European Commission (EC), defense spending by the 27 EU member states reached a total of 381 billion euros (about 650 trillion won) last year, the highest level on record. This represents an increase of 74.7% compared with 218 billion euros in 2021, before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Europe has embarked in earnest on rearmament, with countries increasing their defense budgets. At the same time, a large amount of money has been poured into investments in defense infrastructure that had become obsolete since the end of the Cold War, causing defense expenditures to continue to rise. According to the European Defence Agency (EDA), around 70 billion euros (about 119 trillion won) is being invested every year solely in defense infrastructure such as railways, roads, ports, weapons transport routes, and communications networks. This means that more than 18% of last year’s defense spending was devoted to infrastructure investment.

Germany, which is geographically located in central Europe and hosts NATO’s European headquarters, is at the forefront of investment in defense infrastructure. At the end of last year, the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag approved in one package defense procurement contracts worth more than 50 billion euros for defense infrastructure, including logistics procurement and the acquisition of combat vehicles, as well as reconnaissance and surveillance satellite systems.

Concerns that the United States might withdraw from NATO are also fueling increases in Europe’s defense budgets and defense infrastructure investments. According to the British outlet The Telegraph, U.S. President Donald Trump last month included a NATO-linked organization among 66 international bodies from which the U.S. government has signed to withdraw. The organization in question is the Hybrid CoE (Hybrid Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats), which is supported by NATO and the EU and was established to respond to non-military threats such as Russia’s attacks on cyber, energy, and economic infrastructure.

It takes 45 days to send a single tank to Poland..."Securing military rail capacity is urgent"

A tank being transported by rail from Poland to Ukraine. European Commission (EC) website

The reason the EU is pouring so much effort into building defense infrastructure is that, in a contingency, it would be difficult even to transport troops and military supplies without U.S. assistance. In fact, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, it reportedly took more than a month for European countries, acting outside the NATO framework, to deliver tanks and other military supplies to Ukraine.

According to Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW), the European Defence Agency (EDA) sent a report to member states last September stressing that the establishment of Europe’s military logistics and mobility network was an urgent task. The report stated that it took more than 45 days for tanks, combat vehicles, and military supplies dispatched from Western European countries such as France and Germany to assemble in Poland and then be transported onward to Ukraine.

This prolonged timeline is attributed to the fact that each country has different rail gauge standards, railcar sizes, and load capacities, forcing frequent changes of trains during the movement of supplies. The EDA also noted that differing customs clearance procedures for weapons transport in each country significantly extended transport times. Because EU member states’ regulations on the transport of hazardous materials do not include the transport of military supplies, separate ad hoc agreements have to be concluded each time to enable rapid transport, which slows things down even further.

Critics warn that, at the current transport speed, it would be difficult to halt an advance by Russian armored units in the largely flat terrain of Eastern Europe in a crisis. To address this problem, the EU has since last year been planning a military mobility enhancement project known as the “Military Schengen.” The name is derived from the Schengen Agreement, a border-opening treaty that allows visa-free travel among EU member states. From 2028 to 2034, the EU aims to upgrade key defense infrastructure such as railways, ports, and roads, and to streamline and consolidate national regulatory approvals, with the goal of cutting transport times from 45 days to three days.

European version of 'Starlink' and overhaul of military IT networks...Preparing for possible U.S. withdrawal from NATO

United Press International Yonhap News Agency

With a potential U.S. withdrawal from NATO in mind, Europe is also seeking to build its own independent satellite internet communications network. According to the British Financial Times (FT), German defense company Rheinmetall and satellite manufacturer OHB are pushing a joint bid for a German government project to build a military satellite communications network.

Quoting German military officials, the FT reported, "The satellite communications network project is being referred to as the 'Bundeswehr version of Starlink'," adding, "It represents a major investment aimed at reducing dependence on the United States and rapidly expanding military capabilities." The German government plans to invest 35 billion euros in securing military space technology.

Beyond Germany, various European countries are also moving in earnest to build a joint satellite communications network. In October last year, Airbus, France’s Thales, and Italy’s Leonardo agreed to integrate their satellite manufacturing and service operations. The three companies plan to establish a combined legal entity in the future and build a large-scale satellite communications network similar to Starlink.

After the war in Ukraine demonstrated the usefulness of Starlink, satellite communications networks have come to be classified as a key area of defense infrastructure investment. The Starlink system, operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is a satellite communications network that provides space-based internet services through around 9,000 satellites, and it has played a crucial role in maintaining the communications network of the Ukrainian military since the war began.

Modernization of IT infrastructure is also under way. In June last year, Belgian telecommunications company Proximus and French defense contractor Thales announced that they had jointly won a contract to modernize NATO’s core IT infrastructure. Thales will provide secure cloud infrastructure, while Proximus will upgrade the Wi-Fi networks at NATO facilities located in The Hague in the Netherlands and in Braine-l’Alleud in Belgium. The modernization of military IT infrastructure is regarded as a core project for establishing secure information-sharing and communications systems among allies at a time when Russian cyber threats are rapidly increasing.

Reconciling views among EU member states remains a challenge...Power struggle over the budget continues

European Pressphoto Agency and Yonhap News Agency

However, achieving consensus among EU member states and reaching agreements with NATO have emerged as major challenges. In particular, given that the plan requires massive budget allocations for at least the next 10 years, there are growing concerns that sharp conflicts among member states over budget issues will make it difficult to reach agreement.

According to the BBC, the EU plans to invest 17.6 billion euros from 2028 to 2034 to establish military mobility corridors across the EU and facilitate the transport of military supplies. As part of the Military Schengen project, the EU aims to finalize this agreement by the end of next year, but conflicting interests among member states have so far prevented them from narrowing their differences.

There are also concerns about potential friction between NATO and EU member states. The BBC reported, "Within NATO, there is a desire for the EU to allocate more legislative authority and funding to defense infrastructure, including the military mobility project," adding, "Conversely, within the EU, there is dissatisfaction that NATO is focused only on purchasing expensive military equipment, while paying relatively little attention to ensuring that such equipment can be transported to and used by other allied member states."