ABSTRACT

Between late 2017 and early 2018, the UK prime minister, the secretary of state for defence, chief of the Defence Staff and chief of the General Staff all stated that Russia constitutes the primary security threat facing the UK. The UK’s armed forces have been increasingly engaged in actions designed to counter Russian aggression in continental Europe, the High North and the Atlantic Ocean. The UK has always played a role in European affairs, whether specifically related to defence and security or at the higher level of great-power politics. To the UK, the Northern Group appears likely to become one of the foremost defence cooperation forums for serious and genuine discussions about European security after it leaves the EU. Within Europe, the UK is increasingly looking north to work with trusted and like-minded states, and the Northern Group and Joint Expeditionary Force mechanisms offer the greatest potential.