They may not make it to the war: the transfer of troops from Western Europe to Latvia takes 45 days 0 6

"One of the oddities of moving troops eastward is that they will have to cross countries that are not at war, which means that army commanders will have to comply with customs regulations," the article notes.

Thus, against the backdrop of the Ukrainian conflict, France was unable to send tanks to Romania via the shortest land route through Germany due to customs issues and was forced to transport them across the Mediterranean Sea. European officials are already working on a 'military Schengen' to standardize military movement rules across the region, the publication states.

Last year, a 100-meter section of the Carol Bridge in Dresden collapsed, becoming a symbol of the deplorable state of the country's roads. This is another problem, considering that the main NATO contingent is located in Germany.

Currently, the transfer of troops from strategic ports in Western Europe to countries bordering Russia or Ukraine takes about 45 days, EU representatives have calculated. According to them, the goal is to reduce this time to five or even three days.