Lithuania proposes creation of ‘military Schengen’

Lithuania has proposed the creation of a “military Schengen” zone within the European Union (EU), where defense cooperation among member states would be increased.

According to Press TV, Lithuania’s Defense Minister Raimondas Karoblis made the proposal at a meeting of EU defense ministers in the Estonian Capital of Tallinn on Friday, calling on the member states to join a “military Schengen project that would facilitate the movement of troops in Europe.”

Lithuania is already a member of the NATO, a military alliance of mainly European countries, and its “military Schengen” proposal would, if materialized, only create an alliance within an alliance.

Karoblis said the project was meant at “simplifying procedures and investing in infrastructure.”

He claimed the proposal was supported by many of the EU’s member states and its implementation was “important both in the EU and for NATO.”

“Lithuania supports enhanced EU defense cooperation, and permanent structured defense cooperation must contribute to the increase in defense spending in the EU and the creation of real defense capabilities in Europe,” he said.

The European Commission had earlier proposed the establishment of a common defense fund, allocating 500 million euro ($601 million) to finance military projects and develop defense capacity by 2020.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite announced last month that the US aimed to increase its military presence in the Baltic state — close to Russia’s borders — and possibly double the number of its warplanes there during joint drills between Russia and Belarus in September.

The biennial drills are to be held in Belarus from September 14 to 20 and will involve some 13,000 troops, 70 aircraft, and nearly 700 land vehicles. They will span across Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

ME