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17 Mar 23. Finland’s accession to NATO: Foreign Secretary’s statement on Turkey’s ratification decision. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly gave a statement on Turkey’s decision to ratify Finland’s accession to NATO. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “We welcome Turkey’s decision to ratify Finland’s accession to NATO. We are clear that Turkey should provide a clear path for Sweden’s swift accession. We remain fully committed to supporting both Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession, in line with NATO’s open door policy. Their membership will make all Allies safer, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure. We will continue to press for both countries’ swift accession into the alliance. Our mutual security declarations signed with Sweden and Finland on 11 May 2022 demonstrate our steadfast and unequivocal commitment to the security of both countries during this process and beyond.” (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
14 Mar 23. SIPRI Finds a Surge in Arms Imports to Europe, While US Dominance of the Global Arms Trade Increases.The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released new arms trade data that finds a surge in arms imports to Europe and an increase in U.S. dominance of the global arms trade generally. According to SIPRI, imports of major arms by European states increased by 47 percent between 2013–17 and 2018–22, while the global level of international arms transfers decreased by 5.1 percent. Arms imports fell overall in Africa (–40 percent), the Americas (–21 percent), Asia and Oceania (–7.5 percent) and the Middle East (–8.8 percent)—but imports to East Asia and certain states in other areas of high geopolitical tension rose sharply. The United States’ share of global arms exports increased from 33 to 40 percent while Russia’s fell from 22 to 16 percent. SIPRI notes that global arms exports have long been dominated by the USA and Russia (consistently the largest and second largest arms exporters for the past three decades). However, the gap between the two has been widening significantly, while that between Russia and the third largest supplier, France, has narrowed. US arms exports increased by 14 percent between 2013–17 and 2018–22, and the USA accounted for 40 percent of global arms exports in 2018–22. Russia’s arms exports fell by 31 percent between 2013–17 and 2018–22, and its share of global arms exports decreased from 22 per cent to 16 percent, while France’s share increased from 7.1 percent to 11 per cent. Russian arms exports decreased to 8 of its 10 biggest recipients between 2013–17 and 2018–22. Exports to India, the largest recipient of Russian arms, fell by 37 percent, while exports to the other 7 decreased by an average of 59 percent. However, Russian arms exports increased to China (+39 percent) and Egypt (+44 percent), and they became Russia’s second and third largest recipients. France’s arms exports increased by 44 percent between 2013–17 and 2018–22. Most of these exports were to states in Asia and Oceania and the Middle East. India received 30 percent of France’s arms exports in 2018–22, and France displaced the USA as the second largest supplier of arms to India after Russia. Click here for a SIPRI Fact Sheet on this data. (Source: glstrade.com)
10 Mar 23. EU updates Strategy to safeguard maritime domain against new threats. Today, the European Commission and the High Representative adopted a Joint Communication on an enhanced EU Maritime Security Strategy to ensure a peaceful use of the seas and safeguard the maritime domain against new threats. They have also adopted an updated Action Plan through which the Strategy will be implemented. Maritime security is vital to the European Union and its Member States. Together, the EU’s Member States form the largest combined exclusive economic zone in the world. The EU economy depends greatly on a safe and secure ocean. Over 80% of global trade is seaborne and about two-thirds of the world’s oil and gas is either extracted at sea or transported by sea. Up to 99% of global data flows are transmitted through undersea cables. The global maritime domain must be secure to unlock the full potential of the oceans and the sustainable blue economy. The EU intends to reinforce the wide range of tools it has at its disposal to promote maritime security, both civilian and military.
Adapting to new threats
Security threats and challenges have multiplied since the adoption of the EU Maritime Security Strategy in 2014, requiring new and enhanced action. Long-standing illicit activities, such as piracy, armed robbery at sea, smuggling of migrants and trafficking of human beings, arms and narcotics, as well as terrorism remain critical challenges. But new and evolving threats must also be dealt with increasing geopolitical competition, climate change and degradation of the marine environment and hybrid and cyber-attacks.
This is an opportunity to drive forward sustainable solutions to the multiple maritime security issues the EU and the international community face. It is also an opportunity to enhance the EU’s role and credibility in the international arena. Recent geopolitical developments, such as Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, are a forceful reminder that the EU needs to enhance its security and step up its capacity to act not only on its own territory and its own waters, but also in its neighbourhood and beyond.
An updated European Maritime Security Strategy (EUMSS)
The updated EUMSS is a framework for the EU to take action to protect its interests at sea, and to protect its citizens, values and economy.
The updated Maritime Security Strategy promotes international peace and security, as well as respect for international rules and principles, while ensuring the sustainability of the oceans and the protection of biodiversity. The Strategy will be implemented by the EU and its Member States, in line with their respective competences.
The Joint Communication and associated Action Plan specify several integrated actions that will deliver on the EU’s interests. To do so, the EU will step up its action under six strategic objectives:
- Step up activities at sea. Actions include organising naval exercises at EU level, developing further coastguard operations in European sea basins, designating new maritime areas of interests for the implementation of the Coordinated Maritime Presences concept (a tool to enhance coordination of Member States’ naval and air assets present in specific maritime areas) and reinforcing security inspections in EU ports.
- Cooperate with partners. Actions include deepening EU-NATO cooperation and stepping up cooperation with all relevant international partners to uphold the rules-based order at sea, notably the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
- Lead on maritime domain awareness. Actions include reinforcing coastal and offshore patrol vessel surveillance and strengthening the Common information sharing environment (CISE). This is to make sure the national and EU authorities involved can exchange information in a secure way.
- Manage risks and threats. Actions include conducting regular live maritime exercises involving civilian and military actors, monitoring and protecting critical maritime infrastructure and ships (including passenger ships) from physical and cyber threats, and tackling unexploded ordnance and mines at sea.
- Boost capabilities. Actions include developing common requirements for defence technologies in the maritime domain, stepping up work on projects such as the European Patrol Corvette (new class of warship), and improving our anti-submarine capabilities.
- Educate and train by boosting hybrid and cyber security qualifications notably on the civilian side and conducting training programmes open to non-EU partners.
The updated Strategy and its action plan will contribute to the implementation the EU Strategic Compass for Security and Defence.
Next steps
The Commission and the High Representative invite the Member States to endorse the Strategy and to implement it for their part. The Commission and the High Representative will issue a progress report within three years after the endorsement of the updated Strategy by the Council of the European Union.
Background
The EU Maritime Security Strategy and its Action Plan are in place since 2014. The Action Plan was last updated in 2018. The proposed update follows up on the Council Conclusions on maritime security of June 2021, which called on the Commission and the High Representative to assess the need for such update.
Since 2014, the EUMSS and its Action Plan have provided a comprehensive framework to deter and respond to security challenges at sea. They have stimulated closer cooperation between civilian and military authorities, in particular through information exchange. The EUMSS has helped promote rules-based governance at sea and to develop international cooperation in the maritime domain. It has strengthened the EU’s autonomy and capacity to respond to maritime security threats and challenges. The EU has become a recognised actor in maritime security, conducting its own naval operations, enhancing maritime domain awareness and cooperating with a wide range of external partners. (Source: EDA)
15 Mar 23. UK leaders announce second defense budget boost this week: $7bn. Britain’s defense spending is set to get its second boost in three days after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a further hike in his budget speech Mar 15.
Hunt said representations by his “persuasive defense secretary,” a reference to Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, had convinced him to add £6bn ($7.2bn) above the £5bn hike announced on Monday.
Wallace has been engaged in a fight with the Treasury for additional money to rebuild capabilities of an armed forces, which the defense secretary has previously said had been hollowed out over the last 30 years. Defense budget problems have been exacerbated by double digit inflation recently, although Hunt had some good news on that front, telling Parliament the cost rise numbers would be below 2.9% by the end of the year.
“I confirm that we will add a total of £11bn to our defense budget over the next five years and it will be nearly 2.25% of GDP by 2025,” Hunt told lawmakers.
The Treasury said the spending was “recognition of the deteriorating security environment where the UK must be able to deter and defend against increasing threats to our security, as described in the Integrated Review-Refresh.”
The update of that 2021 defense, security and foreign policy review, released on Monday, was sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other fast moving challenges to international order.
The MoD is scheduled to follow up the integrated review later this year with a strategy prioritizing equipment capabilities and possibly a boost to personnel numbers, particularly in the Army.
The announcement of the second part of the defense spending hike follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying March 13 the Conservative Government was to spend £5bn over the next two years – £2bn next year and £3bn the year after. The government said March 13 the £5bn increase over the next two years would be spent on Britain’s nuclear submarine building and support activities and replenishing missile and munition stocks depleted by the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
Neither the Treasury or the Ministry of Defence detailed what the new extra funding was earmarked for. The additional £6bn announced by Hunt will be equally split across the final three years of a five year period starting 2023/24. The Chancellor reiterated the statement made earlier in the week saying the government’s ambition was to raise defense spending to 2.5% of GDP but only once fiscal and economic conditions allowed.
The defense budget this year will amount to more than £48bn – just above the 2% level sought by NATO. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
11 Mar 23. UK’s defence review to address China’s threat to Taiwan for the first time. Document will aim to strike a balance between tougher stance against ‘concerning’ behaviour of China while maintaining cooperation in areas. The Government’s Integrated Review of defence and foreign policy has been updated to include a reference to the threat China poses to Taiwan, The Telegraph understands.
A “refresh” of the document by Rishi Sunak to be published on Monday will attempt to strike a balance between taking a tougher approach against the
areas.
In March 2021, the Government published an Integrated Review of security, defence, development and foreign policy.
Liz Truss promised a refresh of the document in September, with Mr Sunak deciding to continue with the revamp when he took over as prime minister.
The review has been updated in the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is likely to set the direction for a rebuilding of the British army’s warfighting capabilities.
However, it will also take into account China’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy stance.
The original Integrated Review was criticised for not including a single reference to Taiwan, even though the island has faced growing pressure from China in recent years.
Last August, China menaced Taiwan with wide-scale military drills to coincide with a visit to the island by the then US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
In December, MPs on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee said that a “full-scale invasion” of Taiwan was “not unthinkable” and would expose the UK’s “strategic dependency on supply chains involving China across almost every sector”.
The committee warned that with a majority of the world’s semiconductors produced in Taiwan, any prolonged disruption in the region would be “far more damaging than the renewed illegal invasion of Ukraine”.
The Telegraph understands that the Government has responded to these concerns by revising the document to include Taiwan.
‘A more robust approach to counter threats posed by China’
It is understood that the review will set out a more robust approach to counter threats posed by China. However, it will not recommend that diplomatic channels are entirely cut off and will stress the country’s importance in international discussions around climate change and global health, including pandemic preparedness.
On Saturday Downing Street said the document would “address the grave risks from Putin’s Russia, the increasingly concerning behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party and hybrid threats to our economy and energy security”.
However, the review is still likely to disappoint China hawks on the Tory backbenches who want the Government to redesignate the country as a “threat”.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said that he wanted to see a “reversal of Government policy on China”.
He told The Telegraph: “I want to see the Government – of which Rishi is the prime minister and the leader – accept what he said when he was running for the leadership, that China is a systemic threat.
“The Government has got to make its mind up about China and stop sitting on the fence.
“They’re threatening to invade Taiwan and we say nothing particularly important about that.”
Sir Iain said that ministers remained “panic-stricken about upsetting China”. “The one thing China understands is strength, and right now they think the UK is weak and ambivalent,” he added.
‘China has no intention of meeting climate change demands’
He also dismissed the notion of cooperating with China on issues such as climate change.
“The idea that we’re told that China is going to help us out on the environment – not true,” he said.
“China has no intention of meeting those demands – their demands for energy come first. They’re burning dirty coal at the moment.”
He warned that if the document failed to set out a tough, detailed approach to dealing with China then a “significant number” of Tory MPs would ask “what’s the point of an Integrated Review when it doesn’t do anything?”
The Prime Minister will unveil the Integrated Review in the US where he is meeting Joe Biden and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss the next phase of the Aukus nuclear submarine pact.
Commenting ahead of his flight, Mr Sunak said: “In turbulent times, the UK’s global alliances are our greatest source of strength and security.
“I am travelling to the United States today to launch the next stage of the Aukus nuclear submarine programme, a project which is binding ties to our closest allies and delivering security, new technology and economic advantage at home.
“As we launch the 2023 Integrated Review Refresh tomorrow, this is the future we want to deliver – a UK that is secure, prosperous and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners.” (Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)
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