Neo
01-28-2024, 09:27 AM
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/137C5/production/_132431897_1b4bf02d0f97db7f00aeb6bd518f43a017d7120 d0_0_6000_40001000x667.jpgIMAGE SOURCE, MOD
By Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent, BBC News
Talk of wider war in Europe and the potential need for mass mobilisation or a "citizen army" may sound alarming. But the head of the British Army Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is not alone in issuing a national call to prepare for a major conflict on European soil.
Last week, another senior Nato military chief said countries needed to be on alert "and expect the unexpected". Adm Rob Bauer, who heads the alliance's military committee, said the public needed to change their mindset for an era "when anything can happen at any time".
The UK's defence secretary has also warned that we need to be prepared for a war. In his first major speech on defence, Grant Shapps said the country was moving from a "post war to a pre-war world".
He highlighted numerous threats, but there is one common thread amid all these warnings - Russia.
Germany's Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, recently told a German newspaper "we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a Nato country one day". While he said such an attack is unlikely now, "our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible".
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has focussed the West's military minds.
As Gen Sir Patrick Sanders stated several times in his speech on Wednesday (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68086188), "Ukraine really matters". Russia's ambitions, he said, were not just about seizing territory but "about defeating our system and way of life politically, psychologically and symbolically".
How are other countries preparing?
There is a sense in the upper echelons of the British military that many politicians and most of the public have not grasped the threat they see. It is the duty of the military to analyse that threat, and they still might be proved wrong. But European nations closer to Russian borders appear to be taking it more seriously.
Gen Sanders specifically mentioned Sweden. Earlier this month, its civil defence minister told a defence conference "there could be a war in Sweden". Carl-Oskar Bohlin asked the public "have you considered whether you have time to join a voluntary defence organisation? If not - get moving!" His remarks were backed up by the country's top military commander, who said Sweden should prepare itself mentally
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68097048
===========================
It’s going to be interesting to see how the U.K. implements this idea?
By Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent, BBC News
Talk of wider war in Europe and the potential need for mass mobilisation or a "citizen army" may sound alarming. But the head of the British Army Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is not alone in issuing a national call to prepare for a major conflict on European soil.
Last week, another senior Nato military chief said countries needed to be on alert "and expect the unexpected". Adm Rob Bauer, who heads the alliance's military committee, said the public needed to change their mindset for an era "when anything can happen at any time".
The UK's defence secretary has also warned that we need to be prepared for a war. In his first major speech on defence, Grant Shapps said the country was moving from a "post war to a pre-war world".
He highlighted numerous threats, but there is one common thread amid all these warnings - Russia.
Germany's Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, recently told a German newspaper "we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a Nato country one day". While he said such an attack is unlikely now, "our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible".
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has focussed the West's military minds.
As Gen Sir Patrick Sanders stated several times in his speech on Wednesday (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68086188), "Ukraine really matters". Russia's ambitions, he said, were not just about seizing territory but "about defeating our system and way of life politically, psychologically and symbolically".
How are other countries preparing?
There is a sense in the upper echelons of the British military that many politicians and most of the public have not grasped the threat they see. It is the duty of the military to analyse that threat, and they still might be proved wrong. But European nations closer to Russian borders appear to be taking it more seriously.
Gen Sanders specifically mentioned Sweden. Earlier this month, its civil defence minister told a defence conference "there could be a war in Sweden". Carl-Oskar Bohlin asked the public "have you considered whether you have time to join a voluntary defence organisation? If not - get moving!" His remarks were backed up by the country's top military commander, who said Sweden should prepare itself mentally
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68097048
===========================
It’s going to be interesting to see how the U.K. implements this idea?