MP says Ukrainian crisis underlines importance of strong defence
Today in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister, Rt Hon David Cameron MP, gave a Statement following the European Council meeting last week. EU leaders discussed possible responses to the crisis in the Ukraine.
In the Chamber, John asked,
“Events in the Crimea remind us yet again that powerful countries not necessarily friendly to the West are not only increasing their defence spending, but are prepared to use it. Was there any discussion, or indeed recognition, within the Council of Europe, of the need to raise defence spending from their present low levels?”
The Prime Minister replied that the focus at the Council was on diplomatic and economic measures. Military issues were not prominent.
John said afterwards,
“We may have the fourth or fifth largest defence budget, but we rank around 30th when deploying that force overseas. No-one is advocating military intervention, but Europe in particular needs to wake up and realise that defence spending at or below 2% of GDP risks our security at a time of increasing uncertainty.”
Ends
Word Count: 188
Date: 10th March 2014
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