IE Center for Transport Economics & Infrastructure Management Explores the Role of Railways in Europe’s New Defense Policy
The event brought together representatives from the European Commission, NATO, national defense ministries, and the transport industry to discuss how railways can enhance Europe’s security, resilience, and connectivity.
On November 11, 2025, the IE Center for Transport Economics & Infrastructure Management hosted the conference “The Role of Railways in a New European Defense Policy” at IE Tower, convening senior representatives from European institutions, defense organizations, and the transport sector to examine how rail infrastructure contributes to Europe’s security and strategic preparedness.
The event opened with remarks by Julio Gómez-Pomar, President of the IE Center for Transport Economics & Infrastructure Management, followed by a keynote address from Herald Ruijters, Deputy Director General for Defense, Industry, and Space at the European Commission, who offered the Commission’s perspective on the evolving relationship between transportation and defense policy in Europe.
The first roundtable, “The Geopolitical Situation in Europe: The Importance of Military Mobility,” was moderated by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Fernando García y García de las Hijas, former Commander of the Army Logistics Support Command and Advisor for the Defense Industry. The discussion focused on Europe’s shifting geopolitical landscape and the role of modern logistics and mobility infrastructure in strengthening defense coordination across the continent.
Speakers included Lieutenant General José Antonio Agüero Martínez (Operations Command, Spanish Armed Forces); Lieutenant General (Ret.) Luis Lanchares (NATO Senior Logistics and Enablement Mentor and former Deputy Commander, Joint Force Command Brunssum); José Antonio Sebastián (Spanish Commissioner for the Atlantic Corridor); Colonel Antonio Jorge Marí Mateo (Head of the Civil Defense Department, Spain); Gerardo Landaluce (President of the Port Authority of Algeciras and Vice President of the European Ports Organization); Tomas Godliauskas (Vice-Minister of National Defense, Lithuania); and Andriy Smorodin (President of the national platform Three Seas Initiative – Ukraine and Honorary Professor at Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute).
The second roundtable, “Railways and Transportation for Defense,” was moderated by Julio Gómez-Pomar and opened with a keynote by Enno Wiebe, Director General of UNIFE, followed by Marius Narmontas, COO and Management Board Member of RB Rail AS. The session highlighted practical initiatives such as Rail Baltica, the 870-kilometer high-speed rail line connecting the Baltic countries with the European network. Narmontas outlined how the project’s dual-use design supports both civilian and military logistics, enhancing Europe’s mobility and response capacity.
The panel also featured María Corral Escribano (Deputy Director General for Planning, Trans-European Networks, and Logistics, Spanish Ministry of Transport); Oleg Yakovenko (Director for Strategy and Transformation, Ukrainian Railways); Colonel José A. Chamorro (Chief, 12th Pontoon and Engineer Specialties Regiment, Spanish Army); François Bausch (European Coordinator for the Atlantic Transport Corridor); and Raúl Ripio (Senior Vice President, Indra Mobility).
Discussions throughout the day underscored the need for greater alignment between defense and transport planning to ensure that Europe’s infrastructure networks serve not only economic growth and connectivity but also strategic resilience and collective security.
The conference reaffirmed the Center’s commitment to fostering cross-sector dialogue on the future of transport infrastructure—positioning railways as a cornerstone of Europe’s sustainable and secure mobility.