Minister Hanno Pevkur and his Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts, Andris Sprūds and Robertas Kaunas, signed a joint declaration of intent in Tallinn on Friday to create the Baltic regional military mobility area.

The venture is billed as the military version of the European Union's Schengen Zone, which allows citizens to move freely between countries with minimal hassle.

The ministers stressed the initiative is for peacetime and aims to remove cumbersome restrictions slowing down the movement of troops and equipment between countries and NATO allies.

"The point of the 'miitary schengen' is that we do not have any bureaucracy, any paperwork that needs to be done when militaries are moving from one European country to another," Pevkur said at a press conference.

"Even today, when we go to exercises in Latvia, we have to fill in a lot of paperwork and this is not very reasonable," he added.

Pevkur said that under the current arrangements, different bureaucratic standards across NATO countries can sometimes hold up proceedings for "months."

Outlining how the MMA will work in practice, Kaunas said: "It is not just paperwork; it means that Lithuanian tanks can move freely to defend Riga, Estonian artillery can support Vilnius, [and] Latvian forces can strengthen Tallinn."

"In times of crisis, every hour matters, and bureaucracy and borders can slow down our defense and deterrence," he added.

The Lithuanian minister also stressed that Russia's threat to the region is both "real and long-term." The Baltics invest heavily in defense "not because we want war, but because we want peace," Kaunas said.

Sprūds said the area is for both "countermobility against any potential aggressor countries", and providing better mobility for allies.

He also stressed the importance of having a Europe-wide military Schengen, to allow troops and equipment to move as quickly as possible to the eastern flank in the event of an attack.

"Military mobility is crucial in critical times," the Latvian minister told the assembled media.

Sprūds told ERR News that the mobility area will span the land, sea, air and cyber domains.

Last year, the European Commission said roads, bridges, railways and paperwork impede the ability of militaries to move quickly across borders.

"Some countries require 45 days of advance notice before allowing military equipment to cross their territory," Politico Europe reported.

"Significant barriers to effective military mobility in the EU persist," the communication notes. "National rules are often divergent, fragmented and non-harmonised."

Why now?

Responding to a question about why it has taken four years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine to start removing the existing barriers, Pevkur said several projects are underway, but agreed the process had taken too long: "And I am not happy about that at all."

Pevkur said the most difficult part is customs and how they differ across countries.

"And it's our job to find a solution. But will it be solved in six months? Probably not. We need to have cooperation from other European countries, from the southern European countries," he said.

Pevkur pointed out that the NATO battlegroups in each of the Baltic states are made up of different nations. Latvia's includes personnel and equipment from 14 different countries.

"We have had examples where some of the allies' equipment is here and ready to work if necessary, but the paperwork takes months," he said, speaking about Estonia's battle group, which is made up of British and French forces.

"It's better late than never," said Kaunas, adding that Lithuania has been working on the issue with Germany and Poland. "Sometimes paperwork has taken too long /.../ but be assured that from now on everything will be great."

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