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the EU Military Committee, a seat soon to be held by Air Marshal Sir Stuart Peach. His message was one of continued expectation of defence and security alliance between the UK and the EU, and he also elucidated on the emerging EU defence procurement alliance, Permanent Structured Cooperation, or PeSCo. He went on to outline the current EU security operations and training missions within the Mediterranean and African regions. He also expressed the EU’s sadness that the UK has chosen Brexit but was pragmatic in accepting that it was a decision made that everyone must live with, and this theme of regretful support
was echoed throughout our briefs from a wide variety of nations. We also received the perspectives of the British Military from the UK Deputy MILREP to the EU, and the political dimension from the UK Political and Security Committee Ambassador.
The afternoon session switched to NATO with open and honest Q&A panel sessions with France, Poland, Germany, and Canada, followed by a fascinating session with NATO’s ‘Partners’ from Australia, Georgia and Finland. These partner nations work at a slight remove from the NATO member departments
and therefore bring a different angle and ‘translation’ than those working fully within the organisation. Overall, the day provided a useful balance of views from across the EU, NATO and Partner nations, with a view that Brexit, though sad, would do little to interfere with the strong defence partnerships that exist both within and without the European domain.
Following a cultural evening in the heart of Brussels, the second day was spent at SHAPE with the keynote address from DSACEUR, Gen Sir James Everard, followed by a useful and wide-ranging question and answer session. Again, there was ample opportunity to hear from other members of NATO, with France, Germany, Denmark, Portugal and Poland all offering their perspectives. The overall message was one of strong cooperation, with a reminder than unlike many other organisations, NATO operates on a policy of unanimity rather
than majority and therefore the importance of communication and compromise are at the heart of operations. They were also
keen to highlight and recommend
SHAPE postings, which offer
“
a unique opportunity to work with a diverse range of intelligent and interesting military personnel from across the 29 member states.
The final day in Belgium brought the rare opportunity to visit the historic site of The Battle of Waterloo.
Dr Huw Davies from our own Defence Studies Department, brought the battle to life, highlighting the challenges of the terrain and tactics from
the standpoint of both sides. The cornfields and buildings of the current day melted into the verbal re-enactment of the past as the battle was redrawn
around them. It was an excellent foil to the briefings on NATO and the EU as it brought
out many lessons still relevant today as the western countries continue to operate
and fight under a variety of alliances, often against a
single state or enemy.
PAGE 31
Against the
backdrop of tense Brexit
negotiations between the UK and the EU... ◆◆◆