PRESS RELEASE : Defence Secretary addresses Munich security conference following meeting with JEF counterparts [February 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 17 February 2023.
Attending the opening day of the Munich Security Conference today, the Defence Secretary urged attendees to continue supporting Ukraine with military aid.
- Ben Wallace spoke about the nuclear order and challenges for transatlantic defence.
- Military support for Ukraine also high on the agenda during the conference.
- Comes after a meeting of the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force in the Netherlands yesterday.
Attending the opening day of the Munich Security Conference today (17 February), the Defence Secretary urged attendees to continue supporting Ukraine with the military aid needed to repel Russia’s invasion.
During the conference, the Defence Secretary also took part in a panel discussion on challenges for transatlantic defence and the nuclear order, in which he stressed the importance of NATO maintaining its nuclear capability as a deterrent force against further Russian aggression in Europe.
Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, said:
NATO remains united in the face of threats to our security in the Euro-Atlantic. Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, and the global response to it, go to show the importance of our international alliances and partnerships.
The Munich Security Conference concludes a week of intense diplomatic activity for the Defence Secretary.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, he represented the UK at a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.
Members of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force met in the Hague, the Netherlands on Thursday, where they agreed on the need to continue to accelerate the supply of military aid to Ukraine.
The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is a group of like-minded nations – Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom. The nations share the same purpose, values and a common focus on security and stability in the JEF core regions of the High North, North Atlantic and Baltic Sea region.
The JEF provides a responsive, capable, and ready military force that undertakes integrated activities at sea, on land and in the air, across northern Europe.
These activities are preventative and proportionate and demonstrate solidarity, capability, and resolve to stand together for security and stability in the JEF core regions.
