Goodbye to neutrality: Switzerland enters NATO military Schengen

This project was created to ensure the rapid transfer of troops across the EU, by road, rail, sea or air transport, without delays at borders.

"Switzerland's participation will bring significant benefits to the "Military Mobility" project, according to the announcement of the EU Council. The Swiss authorities have submitted a request to join the project in September 2024, and the country will officially become its member after the necessary administrative procedures are completed, Deutsche Welle reports. 

Canada, the US and Norway were also invited to participate in "military Schengen" in 2021, while the UK received a similar proposal a year later.

These countries are not members of the European Union, but they are members of NATO.

The head of NATO's command center for support and logistics in Ulm, Lt. Gen. Alexander Sollfrank, noted that such a need arose because of the "change in the security situation," referring to the consequences of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine.

In 2023, the Kremlin called the idea of ​​creating a "military Schengen" in Europe "inciting tensions".

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, at a press conference on the results of Russian diplomacy in 2024, which was held today, declared that NATO is drawing Switzerland into "military Schengen".

"The European Union was formed for Europeans, but not so long ago it signed an agreement with NATO, according to which, militarily, in the event that, God forbid, there is a war, the EU will do what NATO tells it. Not only the EU, Switzerland has already been told: 'Come on, join 'military Schengen' if NATO needs to travel through your territory towards the Russian Federation,'" said the head of Russian diplomacy.

According to him, what the Council of Europe is doing now is done according to the decision of the USA.

"The reason why I am saying this is the fact that the OSCE and NATO, and of course, now the European Union and the Council of Europe, and even the Council of the Nordic countries, which are now all members of NATO - are all Euro-Atlantic structures, not Eurasian. Probably those who want to keep Europe under control are interested in the Euro-Atlantic construction being preserved and continuing to dominate," said the minister.

The "Military Mobility" project, also known as "Military Schengen", is a pillar of the PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation in Defense) program. It aims to maximally simplify and standardize procedures for the transfer of NATO troops across European territory. The project was developed by the EU and NATO in 2018.

Before Russia started the Special Military Operation in Ukraine, the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Norway had already joined the project.