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UK foreign secretary David Lammy has said EU and UK security is “indivisible”, as he joined a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday to discuss the prospect of deeper defence co-operation between London and Brussels.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to improve EU-UK ties in the wake of Labour winning power in July, indicating that a security pact with Brussels, covering areas such as defence and energy co-operation, would be at the heart of that new initiative.
Lammy said his attendance at the Luxembourg meeting of 27 EU ministers was a “historic moment that marks our EU reset . . . The UK and Europe’s security is indivisible”.
Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has upended Europe’s security approach and sparked deep concern in Brussels about the state of the EU’s defence capabilities, prompting many of its member states to call for closer ties with the UK, one of Europe’s most important military players.
Starmer met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels this month, where they agreed to hold regular EU-UK leaders’ summits, and committed to begin “strengthening our shared security and stability”.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, said the talks would “lay the foundations of a stronger bond between the UK and the European Union”.
“We are convinced in these dire moments . . . that a strong continent requires a strong partnership,” he added.
Borrell and Lammy had a short bilateral meeting on Monday morning ahead of the foreign affairs council, with Lammy set to join all 27 ministers over lunch.
Lammy’s attendance makes him the first British foreign secretary to participate in a regular meeting since the UK left the EU in January 2020, although former foreign secretary Liz Truss joined an emergency EU foreign affairs council in March 2022 called in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Aside from possible areas of joint co-operation, the talks with Lammy are expected to cover the conflict in the Middle East, and western efforts to continue supporting Ukraine.
“I think we’re all going to very warmly welcome him,” Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp said of Lammy’s attendance.
“We’re not going to repeat Brexit discussions . . . but what is very important in this world full of turmoil, war and uncertainty is that we stand together as EU and UK,” he added.
Veldkamp said the Netherlands would like to see “very intensive” security and defence co-operation with the UK: “The UK has a lot to offer in this field in terms of military capabilities, diplomacy, intelligence.”