Our top priority must be to secure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. We need to deter the threat Russia poses to all of Europe. Aggressors can never be rewarded. No country should ever be tempted to invade its neighbors.
We need to accelerate our support for Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia. The cooperation between the U.K.-led Interflex and the EU military mission for Ukraine has already been instrumental, training more than 120,000 Ukrainian soldiers between them.
In parallel, we must boost our defense spending and strengthen Europe’s defense industry. The EU’s landmark initiative – ReArm Europe – aims to mobilize around €800 billion for defense, while the U.K. has announced the biggest increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War, to reach 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027.
The threats we face go beyond the strictly military. This is an era of hybrid threats, with a barrage of fake news in our media and a surge in sabotage and malign hybrid attacks. Here too the EU and the U.K. share common interests that can easily be translated into more determined joint action.
More broadly, stronger U.K.-EU cooperation must continue to support multilateralism and the rules-based international order enshrined in the United Nations Charter. We must join efforts with other international partners in the pursuit of global goals, including addressing the challenges of climate change, fostering international development and protecting human rights.
The EU and the U.K. are also engaged in bringing stability and prosperity to other parts of the world. Achieving a lasting and just peace in the Middle East and the stabilization of Syria cannot be postponed. Stability in the Sahel, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo is not just vital for the development of the African continent, it matters for Europe’s security too. And within Europe we are undertaking vital work together beyond Ukraine, particularly supporting security and prosperity in the Western Balkans.
Stronger U.K.-EU cooperation must recognize these realities.
In politics, moments of crisis can also open up opportunities. There is too much at stake for us to ignore the opportunity before us. In a world on fire, a new era in security and defense cooperation between the EU and U.K. is essential to keep our countries and people safe.
