Starmer calls for “more European NATO,” vows UK role in continental security

MUNICH — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday called for the creation of a “more European NATO” and urged European nations to reduce strategic dependencies, as he outlined the UK’s security vision at the Munich Security Conference.“We must move forward together to create a more European NATO,” Starmer said, adding that Europe should focus on “diversifying and decreasing some dependencies.”Describing Europe as a “sleeping giant,” Starmer said the continent’s combined economies are more than ten times larger than Russia’s and stressed that Europeans possess “huge defense capabilities.”“If necessary, we must be ready to fight, to do whatever it takes to protect our people, our values and our way of life,” he said.Starmer also sought to reset perceptions of Britain’s post-Brexit role in Europe, saying the UK is no longer “the Britain of the Brexit years.”“There is no British security without Europe, and no European security without Britain. That is the lesson of history – and it is today’s reality too,” he said.He reaffirmed the United Kingdom’s commitment to NATO’s Article 5 collective defense clause, calling it “as profound now as ever,” and pledged that Britain would respond if called upon to support an ally.As part of that commitment, Starmer announced that the UK will deploy its carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North later this year “in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security.”He also emphasized closer cooperation in defense technology and artificial intelligence, saying Britain wants to combine its strengths with European partners to build a shared industrial base and accelerate defense production.“We want to bring our leadership in defense tech and AI together with Europe to multiply our strengths and build a shared industrial base across our continent, which can turbocharge our defense production,” he said.Starmer noted that achieving this vision requires stronger coordination across Europe, pointing to cooperation with Germany and France through the E3 framework, as well as engagement with EU partners including Italy and Poland, and with Norway, Canada and Türkiye.