The EU is investing in dual-use (civilian and defence) transport infrastructure projects to facilitate the mobility of armed forces within and beyond the Union. Since 2021, the CEF Transport programme has supported 95 military mobility projects across all transport modes. The first 11 projects have now been successfully completed.
Two road bottlenecks of the Via Baltica in Lithuania, have been reconstructed to widen the sections to four traffic lanes, facilitating the civil and military connections between Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and other Eastern and Western European countries. In Poland, bridges and interchanges on the A2 motorway have been strengthened to allow for 130 tonnes gross vehicles. Three flyovers on the National Road No. 91 (Wojska Polskiego Avenue) have been constructed to allow for military vehicles.
Maritime operations in winter conditions are safer in the Gulf of Riga because of the new multi-use hybrid propulsion icebreaker of ice class 1C which started operating in March 2025. The Freeport of Riga can now assure operations throughout winter, including for the Latvian National Guard and the Latvian Navy and Logistics Command located in the Bullupe channel. It also facilitates the provisioning of the NATO Eastern flank.
Military mobility of the European TEN-T railway network has been improved in the Netherlands, Italy and Finland. In Finland, the electrified Oritkari triangular junction has been constructed in line with the railway dual-use infrastructure requirements. These investments enabled larger military equipment to be transported directly from the Oulu-Luleå railway to the Port of Oulu and the intermodal freight terminal.
The safety and reliability of civilian and military air transport operations at the Franjo Tuđman Airport in Croatia was improved through the reconstruction of the taxiway junctions and the replacement of the electrical and signaling installations. The Air Traffic Control capabilities of the Portuguese Air Force were improved through the installation of aeronautical surveillance systems and the airport ground traffic visualization system, as well as upgrade of the floodlighting system on aircraft parking aprons was implemented in the Warsaw Chopin Airport.
Background
Under the 2021-2027 EU budget, €1.74 billion of the Connecting Europe Facility Transport programme is allocated to enhance military mobility across EU. The entire budget availablewas allocated through three calls for proposals in 2021, 2022 and 2023, managed by CINEA. As a result of these callls, 95 projects are currently being implemented.
In line with the Action plan on military mobility 2.0, the 95 CEF Transport funded projects adapt parts of the EU military and TEN-T network to the higher dimensions and capacity requirements to use transport for both civilian and defence purposes.
The EU’s financial contribution is made through grants co-financing 50% of the total eligible costs of the project.
