· backs NATO’s work to protect democracies from new threats
such as cutting-edge weapons and cyber attacks
· Follows the Integrated Review
setting out Britain’s blueprint for meeting global
challenges
Foreign Secretary will rally NATO Allies to face down the threat from
Russia and ensure it faces real world consequences for hostile
activity.
He will deliver the message at a NATO ministerial meeting
on Russia taking place today [Wed 24 March] as part of a two-day
summit in Brussels - the first in-person meeting of NATO foreign
ministers in over a year.
The Foreign Secretary will set out the changing nature of
Russian aggression which deploys new and disruptive technology
threatening democracies and open societies around the world. This
includes Russia’s development of new, cutting-edge missile
systems built to evade conventional defences, and state-backed
cyber-attacks that target sensitive data, try to interfere in
elections or spread disinformation about coronavirus.
The Foreign Secretary will reiterate the UK’s unwavering
support for NATO as the bedrock of transatlantic security, and
support proposals that will strengthen the Alliance’s political
response to a whole range of existing and emerging
threats.
He will also back NATO’s Open Door policy that offers a
route to NATO membership, including for countries facing Russian
aggression such as Ukraine and Georgia. This sits alongside the
importance of working with non-NATO partners to tackle rising
global challenges, including by engaging with European states
such as Sweden and Finland, or Indo-Pacific powers like
Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Ahead of the meeting, Foreign Secretary said:
“This is an important opportunity for NATO allies to
gather together and discuss the value of our alliance in a world
where democracies are under threat from authoritarian powers and
non-state actors who use cyber threats and malicious new
technology to sabotage the rules-based order.
“The UK, as a leading defence and diplomatic power,
fully backs NATO as a strong military deterrent to the threats
from Russia but also as a strong, united, political bulwark
against Moscow’s de-stabilising activities.”
The meeting follows the publication of the UK’s Integrated
Review, which assessed that Russia remains the most acute threat
we face, and the Defence Command Paper which set out how the UK
will modernise our forces across sea, land, air, space, and
cyberspace.
At a separate session on day one of the meeting [Tue 23
March] the Foreign Secretary called for maximum ambition when
NATO agrees a bold new agenda on climate security. This will
include discussing ways to significantly reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from military activities, to improve climate disaster
response capability, have better early warning systems and an
Alliance-wide assessment of how climate change will impact NATO
and critical energy infrastructure.
On Tuesday, the Foreign Secretary also met with US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas -
members of the Transatlantic Quad - to discuss our shared
priorities and co-ordinate transatlantic approaches key global
challenges - including Iran, Russia and Yemen.
--
ENDS --
NOTES TO EDITORS
· The UK spends more in cash terms than any
NATO member other than the US, and is one of only nine countries
to exceed NATO’s target by committing 2.2% of GDP on defence,
with over 20% of that on major equipment.
· We underpin this with our independent
nuclear deterrent, declared in full to the defence of
NATO.
· The UK has repeatedly deployed the UK’s
diplomatic, intelligence and military capability to hold Russia
to account, working alongside international partners to do
so.
· This includes exposing the reckless and
dangerous activities of Russian Intelligence Services; calling
out Russia’s malicious cyber activity in co-ordination with the
US and Canada; expelling 23 Russian intelligence officers who
were posing as diplomats following the attacks in Salisbury;
sanctioning individuals responsible for hostile and malign
activity against the UK and our allies and those responsible for
serious human rights violations and cracking down on the
corrosive impact of illicit finance
· The use of disinformation to mislead the
public about the coronavirus pandemic is one example of a range
of state threats that NATO is addressing. NATO’s Secretary
General Jens Stoltenberg has previously acknowledged attempts by
both Russia and China to blame NATO or individual Allies for the
existence of the coronavirus.
