Tri-Service

"Britain Should Station Troops In Eastern Europe"

A thinktank argues Britain should consider a permanent garrison of ground troops in Eastern Europe.

Experts from the Henry Jackson Society, say the "manageable chaos" resulting from Vladimir Putin's aggressive foreign policy means NATO's Baltic partners need additional protection.

It goes on to explain a new military footprint is needed as Britain faces for the first time in two decades, a 'serious state-based competitor' on the European continent.

The report, After Crimea: Towards a new British Geostrategy for Eastern Europe, argues that Moscow must be stopped from extending their foreign policy beyond Ukraine, along NATO's eastern flank.

James Rogers and Andra-Lucia Martinescu, co-authors of the report, said: “Rather than trying to shy away from mainland Europe, the United Kingdom needs to re-assert the European dimension of its global policy more forcefully.”

“This will likely require a new British military footprint in Eastern Europe, including the permanent stationing of British troops in exposed Allied nations, to ensure the European mainland – a critical component of Britain’s geostrategic defence system – remains prosperous and secure,” it says.

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The authors explain that if Europe is integral to the UK's defence system, then Eastern Europe, at the sharp end of Russia's aggressive foreign policy – matters most.

“Long a strong supporter of smaller nations’ right to self-determination, as well as Nato, the UK must ensure the ‘assurance measures’ adopted by the alliance are sufficient to deter Russian provocation,” they say.

“The Baltic States have asked Nato for the installation of permanent garrisons on their territory: as the most militarily powerful European country, the UK has a responsibility, both to its allies and to itself, to respond appropriately.”