Douglas Chapman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Chapman on 2016-03-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the Russian government’s position on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr David Lidington

A strong, unified European Union has a critical role to play in responding to Russian aggression in Ukraine, which has challenged stability and security on the continent. The UK has played a leading role in pressing for tough EU sanctions, delivering a cost to Russia for its actions and supporting the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. It is likely that Russia would seek to exploit the UK leaving the EU in order to sow disunity amongst Member States and weaken their resolve. This reinforces the Government’s view that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.