U.K. Will Offer Troops to Support EU Operations After Brexit
Britain will continue to offer troops to European Union operations after Brexit as well.
(Bloomberg) -- Britain will continue to offer troops to European Union operations after Brexit, as well as agreeing to joint foreign policy positions with the bloc, as part of the close relationship that Theresa May’s government is pitching for.
The latest in a series of government position papers will offer a more conciliatory tone than May did in March, when she appeared to suggest that ongoing counter-terrorism cooperation would be contingent on Britain getting a good trade deal. Security is an area where the U.K. has much to offer the EU, with the second-largest defense budget in NATO as well as strong intelligence capabilities.
The government gave little more detail on what the position paper, to be published Tuesday, will say. Several other documents in the series have argued that Britain should try to keep the U.K.’s relationship with the EU as close as possible to what it is at the moment.
“After we leave the European Union, we will continue to face shared threats to our security, our shared values and our way of life,” Brexit Secretary David Davis said in an emailed statement. “It’s in our mutual interest to work closely with the EU and its member states to challenge terrorism and extremism, illegal migration, cyber-crime, and conventional state-based military aggression.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson