Iain Lindsay: Guaranteeing European Security Is Our Collective Task

Szöveg: Péter Snoj | 2018. február 20. 12:16

On Monday, 19 February the Hungarian Atlantic Council held an afternoon tea at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences with the title “The United Kingdom and Europe for a secure common future”. In his lecture, British Ambassador Iain Lindsay emphasized that the United Kingdom is not turning its back on Europe and is not stepping back from its leadership in European security.

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In his speech, Ambassador Lindsay – who was greeted by Dr. E. Sylvester Vizi, President of the Hungarian Atlantic Council and Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences – pointed out several times the importance of cooperation of European nations, their working closely together with each other and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). As he said, guaranteeing Europe’s security is our collective task. However, unfortunately the meaning of security has been redefined in recent years. For this reason, we must work harder to guarantee the security of our citizens, our countries and Europe. It is important that we should subordinate all available capabilities and resources to this common goal, in the most constructive way possible.

As a reminder, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom told his audience that two years ago, in 2016 the citizens of his country had voted for exit from the European Union. In what followed, the British government made it immediately clear that in spite of the exit, it intends to develop and maintain deep and special relations with the EU and its member states. The British diplomat underlined that this cooperation is especially relevant in security and economic issues. As he underlined, “We are exiting the European Union, but not stepping back from Europe."

To reinforce this line of thought, Iain Lindsay said that the United Kingdom is the second largest defence spender in NATO, and the only EU member state to spend 2 per cent of its GDP on defence. In his opinion, his country is involved in security policy as the most active EU member state, and the British government intends to continue this involvement. In other words, the United Kingdom wishes to remain a strategic partner of the European Union and unconditionally committed to European security.

As he said, today’s increasing security threats – such as terrorism, mass migration and cyber warfare – force the countries of Europe to achieve that our nations cooperate even more closely in the interest of security. He added that to answer the challenges of the future, the British government believes that NATO and the EU should also work more closely together, and the overall aim should be that these two institutions use their resources and work in a complementary way, not duplicating each other. As he noted, “We still see NATO as the cornerstone of the UK’s and Europe’s defence. The Alliance and its guarantee of collective security under Article 5 ensure the security of the UK and that of our allies."

Talking about the strengthening British–Hungarian military cooperation, he said that the United Kingdom considers the USA and Canada as important strategic and economic partners, but as members of a European nation, the British consider it at least as important to maintain relations with their European partners. Among others, Hungary is an important ally of the United Kingdom. Its contribution to international missions is noticeable, with special regard to the continuous presence in the Balkans, which greatly helps ensuring regional stability. “I believe that the development of our defence relations, joint military exercises and the good personal relations among our soldiers can also contribute to the security of the region and our countries", Ambassador Iain Lindsay pointed out.