In a report for Policy Exchange, Sir Michael, Secretary of Defense from 2014 to 2017, and Lord Robertson, Secretary of Defense from 1997 to 1999, said that Ireland’s security after the Cold War was Little attention has been paid to it.”
They write: “The growing presence of Russia, Iran and China in the Republic poses a backdoor threat to the UK itself.
“The Republic plays little role in European defense cooperation. It needs to quickly strengthen its forces, especially its maritime forces, to be able to defend against today’s threats.
“The UK should certainly encourage this, building on the first UK-Ireland Defense Agreement signed in 2015. However, the current threats to our own security are growing and urgent. What the Government must do immediately is to reaffirm the vital strategic importance of Northern Ireland and strengthen this weakness in our national security.”
They warned that Britain’s Atlantic side was gaining new strategic importance due to the resurgence of an aggressive Russia “actively waging war in Europe”, and the Ministry of Defense would provide the military with the intelligence it needed. He said more naval bases and military airfields should be built in Northern Ireland in order to Further reaching the North Atlantic.
“Those of us who have served as defense secretaries in different governments at different times know that very little attention was paid to the security of the island of Ireland in the immediate aftermath of the end of the Cold War,” they wrote, adding: He added: This approach has become increasingly urgent as the geopolitical situation in Europe and the Atlantic sharpens. ”