{"id":32758,"date":"2024-04-06T12:51:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-06T19:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=32758"},"modified":"2024-04-06T12:51:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T19:51:16","slug":"russian-threat-much-more-serious-than-cold-war-former-defence-secretary-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/06\/russian-threat-much-more-serious-than-cold-war-former-defence-secretary-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Threat \u2018Much More Serious Than Cold War,\u2019 Former Defence Secretary Says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Genevieve Holl-Allen\/The Telegraph<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"RussianA British soldier during a Nato exercise: Sir Michael says Britain should lead the way in Nato. (photo: Wojtek Radwanski\/AFP)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

05 april 24<\/strong> (RSN.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The threat posed by Russia is now \u201cmuch more serious\u201d than during the Cold War, a former defence secretary has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Michael Fallon<\/a> said Britain should be \u201csetting an example\u201d within Nato on defence spending, urging all parties to commit to 2.5 per cent of GDP ahead of the election.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked whether he believed the UK was spending too little on defence, Sir Michael, who was in office between 2014 and 2017, told Sky News: \u201cYes, I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to be spending more. The threat has increased and \u2026 in the Cold War\u2026 we didn\u2019t have Russia invading countries on our continent. So the threat is much more serious than it was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pointed to other Nato countries, such as Hungary and Romania, that have recently increased their defence spending, before telling political parties to commit to an additional \u00a38 and \u00a39 billion a year.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe [Ministry of Defence] budget has been rising. And to be fair to my successors, and to successive prime ministers, the budget has been slowly increasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, the threat has been multiplying. And that\u2019s the difference now. That\u2019s why we need to step up a gear and that\u2019s why we\u2019d like every candidate in this election to commit to a new target of 2.5 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cWe need to be cajoling the rest of the alliance and setting an example. Some countries on the eastern side of NATO are now doing that. Poland, for example, the Baltic states … Romania and Hungary are now spending much more, and we should be leading.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Britain spends around 2.3 per cent of GDP on defence, with Rishi Sunak stating 2.5 per cent as an ambition but giving no timeframe when it might be achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes after Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, warned that we have moved from a \u201cpost-war to pre-war world\u201d amid threats posed by Russia, China and Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing in the Telegraph<\/a>, Mr Shapps said Nato countries that do not spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence spending are playing \u201cRussian roulette\u201d with the West\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to Nato\u2019s anniversary, he said: \u201cPaying tribute to Nato\u2019s past is not enough. Today we must give urgent thought once again to the alliance\u2019s future. We have moved from a post-war to a pre-war world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cRussia is menacing our neighbours. China is increasingly belligerent. Iran is using its proxies to cause regional havoc from the Middle East to the straits of Yemen. North Korea is perpetually rattling its nuclear sabre. Increasingly, these malign powers are aligning and our democracy is in their crosshairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeventy-five years ago George Orwell painted a terrifying picture of a world without Nato. Today, we live in a more dangerous age. Once more, autocratic Big Brothers are seeking to divide us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut we have a big advantage. Today our alliance is bigger, stronger and more experienced than ever. And as long as we stand together, we\u2019ll guarantee that Orwellian ending never comes to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Nato must not fret about Trump\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Michael\u2019s comments<\/a> come after Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, told allies at a NATO summit yesterday<\/a> that spending 2 per cent on defence \u2013 the alliance guideline \u2013 was the \u201cbest way to prepare for the American elections in the autumn\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These remarks were seen as a clear reference to the possibility of Donald Trump winning the US elections in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, only 11 Nato members met the 2 per cent target, set almost two decades ago, with France and Germany spending less on defence. The two nations have since said they will hit the target in 2024, but several other countries have yet to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Michael, who was defence secretary during Lord Cameron\u2019s premiership, said NATO countries should stop \u201cfretting about Trump\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNATO has been a very successful defensive alliance. Countries want to join us and have joined it, Finland and Sweden have in the last year or so. So it\u2019s a stronger alliance all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the answer to Trump is not to keep fretting about Trump, <\/a>but to do what the Americans want us to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd by the way, that\u2019s across the board in America, Republicans and Democrats \u2013 they want Europe to spend more on its own defence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey see our continent being invaded by Russia and they expect us to do more about it. And we should,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Genevieve Holl-Allen\/The Telegraph A British soldier during a Nato exercise: Sir Michael says Britain should lead the way in Nato. (photo: Wojtek Radwanski\/AFP) 05 april 24 (RSN.org) The threat posed by Russia is now \u201cmuch more serious\u201d than during the Cold War, a former defence secretary has said. Sir Michael Fallon said… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32758"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32759,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32758\/revisions\/32759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}