EU leaders call for €100 billion push to merge sustainable and military transport by 2030
At a high-level forum in Riga, EU officials and Latvian partners urged rapid action to build a climate-neutral, resilient transport system that also supports military mobility by 2030.
Representatives from the European Economic and Social Committee, the Latvian association Sustainability Cluster and various EU institutions gathered in Riga on 17 September 2026 for a forum on “Mobility in Europe 2030”. Participants, including Marcin Nowacki, Armands Gūtmanis, Baiba Miltoviča, Rihards Kozlovskis and Roberts Zīle, argued that the EU must accelerate the development of a climate-neutral, resilient transport system that also enables rapid military deployments.
The discussion stressed that achieving this vision requires at least €100 billion of EU funding via the Connecting Europe Facility between 2028 and 2034, as well as digitalisation and cross-border cooperation. Attendees warned that isolated projects are insufficient and that lessons from Ukraine should inform future mobility strategies. The forum positioned mobility as a strategic pillar linking economic competitiveness, security and environmental objectives for the next decade.
Why it matters
It outlines the EU’s plan to fund and coordinate transport upgrades that will affect climate goals and defence readiness across Europe.
In this story
