Minister Mark Lancaster highlighted how the British and Italian Armed Forces can work closer together at a Protection of Cultural Heritage event,say the MoD.

The Minister also discussed future co-operation with Italian Defence partners.

Minister for the Armed Forces Mark Lancaster said:

“European security is UK security and we are strengthening our defence partnership with Italy, a key NATO ally.

Our two countries cooperate on a wide range of shared security challenges, from threats to valuable cultural property to countering cyber-attacks.”

At the Protection of Cultural Heritage event, Lancaster announced that the Army-led Cultural Property Protection Unit (CPPU) is now starting to recruit reservists. The CPPU was established as part of the UK Government’s implementation of the Hague Convention that places obligations on the Armed Forces for the protection of cultural property from damage, destruction and looting.

In speaking with Italian counterparts, he reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to the Statement of Intent signed earlier this year to ‘further defence and security cooperation between the two countries in the maritime, land, air and cyber domains and to strengthen the interoperability of the Armed Forces through regular planning and training activities’.

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George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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Daniele Mandelli
Daniele Mandelli
5 years ago

CPPU…?

Never heard of it. Is this the DCSU lot at Hendon, and MoD have indulged in their favourite game changing names for the sake of it again?

Paul T
Paul T
5 years ago

The Monuments Men Redux lol !.

Mr Bell
Mr Bell
5 years ago

So we are going to deploy Apache gunships to defend the British museum or Stonehenge?
Bizarre notion.
European security should not be UK security if the EU maintain their deliberate attempts to block an amicable BREXIT with the Irish border issues.

Riga
Riga
5 years ago
Reply to  Mr Bell

Perhaps the idea is that we would rather have the Europeans feel the initial blast before it touched us, therefore helping European security is UK security.

Should the Russians take the Baltics, which they could, all the glaring deficiencies in equipment and manning would be on view to the world because NATO could not retake the Baltics and hence its reason for being would come into question. Bereft of European support, we would be sunk.

Steve
Steve
5 years ago
Reply to  Riga

NATO inclues the US, and so yes it could easily retake the balkans. Whether it would risk nuclear way by doing so, is another question.

Steve
Steve
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve

Baltic States I mean and nuclear was not way.

Captain P Wash
Captain P Wash
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve

“War” ?

Ciaran Goggins
5 years ago

They need poachers turned gamekeepers.

Ian McKenna
Ian McKenna
3 years ago
Reply to  Ciaran Goggins

Whereas you just need a functioning brain Ciaran, I hear you are stil lying about l have been attached to The Intelligence Corps as opposed to thrown out the Territorial Army Royal Army Medical Corps Private Goggins?

Ciaran Goggins
3 years ago
Reply to  Ian McKenna

You sussed me out you cunning old badger, still Intelligence Corps sounds better than Royal Army Medical Corps Private doesn’t it?

Captain P Wash
Captain P Wash
5 years ago

War ?

Ciaran Goggins
3 years ago
Reply to  Captain P Wash

I come from a long line of reluctant Wel/Irish deserters who only joined the British Army for their first pair of real boots.

R Cummings
R Cummings
5 years ago

Mr Bell, the EU is not NATO, they are quite separate organisations. Nobody is ‘blocking Brexit’ on the Northern Ireland issue. The Good Friday agreement which ended the Troubles is an international agreement, signed at the UN, between the UK and Ireland. It effectively stipulates no hard border between the North and the Republic, that was part of the price for reaching a peace deal. Both the EU and UK are rightly seeking to honour the agreement. But if we do a hard Brexit and exit without agreement, or fail to reach a free-trade agreement by 2020, then there will… Read more »

Anthony D
Anthony D
5 years ago
Reply to  R Cummings

I’ve tried over and over to make the same points to Mr Bell and Chris without much joy. We’re talking past one another with different facts and foundational beliefs. Mr Bell is never going to believe withdrawing defence and security cooperation is suicidally bad for Britain’s interests or that a European alliance is the key to a peaceful continent. Chris is never going to believe that being an EU member is in our national interest or that any form of withdrawal undermines that interest. Peace in northern Ireland, the integrity of the UK, the car and aviation manufacturing industries, the… Read more »

Nath
Nath
5 years ago
Reply to  Anthony D

None of the activities you’ve note above requires a supranational political entity with powers of coercions to supervise or direct this. Most people who voted for Brexit were not rejecting cooperation with our European partners but the political body and its aspirations located in Brussels. It is not right to damn leavers for wanting to reaffirm all Briton’s sovereignties and right to self determination because you like the idea of working in France. And nor does your fancy for working in the EU trump others’ desires for a more robust immigration regime. We live in a democracy which has systematically… Read more »

David Steeper
5 years ago

‘European security is our security’ As evidence above there are many of us who would disagree sir.

Anthony D
Anthony D
5 years ago
Reply to  David Steeper

David, because whenever things go south on the continent, Britain has to spend money and blood helping to sort it out so that we don’t end up being next in line.

Prevention is better than cure.

Not to mention liberal democracy needs all the friends it can get. This worldwide dalliance with democracy is historically rather novel. It’s astonishing how much we take for granted.

Anthony D
Anthony D
5 years ago

David, because whenever things go south on the continent, Britain has to spend money and blood helping to sort it out so that we don’t end up being next in line.

Prevention is better than cure.

Not to mention liberal democracy needs all the friends it can get. This worldwide dalliance with democracy is historically rather novel. It’s astonishing how much we take for granted.

Ciaran Goggins
3 years ago
Reply to  Anthony D

My paternal Uncle Geovani Goggins helped drive the Germans in Italy into the sea when his taxi carrying four german Waffen SS was driven off the harbour into the sea. He was very drunk at the time I should add.

Mr Bell
Mr Bell
5 years ago

Anthony The Northern Ireland issue should be simple. The Uk and EU agree to a limited duration customs union whilst allowing the UK in the transition period to come to a free trade deal with the EU. The EU however wants either a return to the hard border so they can blame the UK, or to fracture the UK apart and enforce an Irish settlement whereby the 2 Ireland’s unify. Against the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland. We were always only ever going to get a no deal scenario from the EU unless we allow the EU to… Read more »

Anthony D
Anthony D
5 years ago
Reply to  Mr Bell

Hi Mr bell. Thanks for not shouting me down. We’re all very passionate about this one. All id say is that… We’re not in the euro, which shows we can veto the bits our elected government doesn’t like. Which is anything too federal for us to stomach. Europe will always be at least two if not three tiers of integration. There is no euro army and the best way of making sure it never happens is being inside and vetoing it. While bearing in mind the commission is appointed by the elected goverments and elected European parliament. All further integration… Read more »

Nath
Nath
5 years ago
Reply to  Anthony D

What kind of democracy is it when the entire establishment is pro-European? How does one vote down Maastricht when the political class is in favour of further integration – where is the choice? We should have had a referendum then, which we’d have rejected but then be forced to vote again on a “People’s Vote” to overturn the idiots who voted against it in the first place. What kind of democracy is this? Regarding the ROI we could unilaterally declare all Irish products tariff free and re-affirm freedom of movement for all Irish nationals in the UK. Then we establish… Read more »

Daniele Mandelli
Daniele Mandelli
5 years ago

I’m curious with all this Ireland border business how Switzerland trades quite happily with the EU and no hard border.

Anthony D
Anthony D
5 years ago

Switzerland is a member of the European free trade association. Switzerland duplicates EU law rather applies it directly, which allows it to satisfy EU requirements for access to its markets. Oh and it pays into the EU budget and accepts free movement of people.

We were one of the founding members of EFTA and we could revert back. The other three members have a more direct relationship with European law but are covered by the EFTA court rather than ecj.

Anthony D
Anthony D
5 years ago
Reply to  Anthony D

It would solve the Irish border and frictionless trade issue and ecj issue. It’s freedom of movement for workers rather than people, with a budget contribution, a say in regulation but having to abide by it, which limits scope to some extent to sign trade deals with countries not covered by EU or its 60 trade deal partners.

Not a bad compromise for a country split 48/52.