{"id":35625,"date":"2018-11-13T13:05:38","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T13:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/13\/nato-nudges-europe-to-make-its-transport-networks-war-ready\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:51:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:51:50","slug":"nato-nudges-europe-to-make-its-transport-networks-war-ready","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2018\/11\/13\/nato-nudges-europe-to-make-its-transport-networks-war-ready\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO nudges Europe to make its transport networks war-ready"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BERLIN \u2013 NATO leaders have their eyes on the European Union\u2019s draft budget as a means to boost spending on infrastructure projects that could serve key military functions besides their civilian uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The push comes as both organizations seek ways to increase defense cooperation without stepping on each other\u2019s toes. Defense officials have described joint activities in military mobility as a relatively safe space in a NATO-EU field fraught with political tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is an ongoing budget discussion in the EU and we\u2019ll see what comes out of it,\u201d Camille Grand, NATO\u2019s assistant secretary general for defense investment, told Defense News in an interview on the sidelines of the NATO Industry Forum here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All told, Grand said, on the table is a sum of \u20ac1 billion annually in EU money on top of the roughly \u20ac1 billion spent by NATO members on infrastructure improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\t