Observers at the Financial Times argue that Europe’s ability to move troops quickly is hamstrung by bureaucracy, incompatible rail gauges, and aging bridges. They note an additional complication: forces heading east must transit countries not at war, which means commanders are obliged to follow peacetime customs procedures.

The report cites France as a case in point. Paris tried to send tanks to Romania along the shortest land corridor through Germany but ran into customs obstacles; the armor ultimately went by way of the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the publication, European officials are pushing a «military Schengen» to standardize rules for transporting military cargo across the European Union. By their estimates, shifting forces from strategic ports in Western Europe to states bordering Russia or Ukraine currently takes about 45 days. The goal, they say, is to reduce that timeline to five days-or, ideally, three.