British warships are set to patrol the Arctic, Sir Keir Starmer had announced following Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland over security concerns.
Speaking to world leaders at the Munich Security Conference, the prime minister said the US, Canada and other Nato allies would join Britain in bolstering security across what is known as the High North.
During his address, Sir Keir also outlined plans for Britain to pursue “deeper economic integration” with the European Union, aiming to “move closer to the single market” in various sectors. He asserted that the current EU-UK “status quo is not fit for purpose,” acknowledging that such a shift would entail “trade-offs.”
Starmer also said the UK would honour the Nato commitment to defend its allies if called upon.
One of the alliance’s founding principles, Article 5, is that an attack on one Nato member is an attack on all.
US President Donald Trump has questioned whether the US’s European partners would answer the call if it were made today. The Prime Minister sought to dispel this doubt.
He said: “I am proud that my party fought for Nato’s creation, what our then-foreign secretary Ernie Bevin, called a spiritual union of the West.
“And we’ve shown our fidelity to that ideal, asserting each other’s sovereignty as we did on Greenland, and crucially, coming to each other’s aid under Article 5, we fought together in Afghanistan at terrible cost to many in my country and across many allied countries.
“So I say to all Nato members, our commitment to Article 5 is as profound now as ever, and be in no doubt, if called on, the UK would come to your aid today.”
Amidst domestic political challenges, Sir Keir also remarked that he “ended the week much stronger than I started it.”
His speech at the significant security gathering followed an address by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mr Rubio criticised past errors by Western nations over the last four decades, while simultaneously attempting to mend strained ties between the US and Europe following recent transatlantic turbulence.
Notably, Mr Rubio declined to attend a Ukraine meeting at the conference on Friday. This gathering saw allies reaffirming their support for the war-torn nation as the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches. While US officials attributed his absence to scheduling conflicts, European observers reportedly interpreted it as a potential indicator of the White House’s diminishing interest in involving them in efforts to resolve the conflict.
