Radmila Shekerinska, NATO deputy secretary general, stressed that the European Union can play a vital role in ensuring that allied forces can be rapidly deployed and their positions sustained throughout Europe.
In a meeting with Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the European Union’s commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, Shekerinska also underscored the importance of discussions with the EU to promote transparency on matters of common interest between the two organizations and further areas of cooperation that they can explore.
Defense Investment Talks
The NATO official hosted a similar meeting with Andrius Kubilius, the EU commissioner for defense and space, in March for talks on potential NATO-EU cooperation in increasing defense investments and boosting industrial capacity.
Subsequently, in April, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas attended the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting to participate in alliance discussions for collaboration on defense, industrial capacity growth, the Western Balkans situation and support for Ukraine.
Higher EU Funding
Tzitzikostas advocates within the EU advancing cooperation with NATO on military mobility. In a February session of the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee, he shared parliament members’ views that more funding is needed for military mobility in the 2028-2034 EU military mobility budget.
During his confirmation hearing as an EU commissioner, the official emphasized that developing military mobility to reduce European vulnerabilities is one of his priorities. A component of the plan is military dual-use of corridors in the Trans-European Transport Network.