LONDON, January 23. /TASS/. Britain will work toward rapprochement with the European Union on security and defense amid US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable policies, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an interview with Channel 4 television.
"Europe needs to do more, Europe needs to step up. We need to be stronger on our own defense and security. And that doesn’t just mean military capability and coordination. This goes beyond that, it goes to cyber, it goes to trade, it goes to energy. And it reinforces my argument that we, the UK, ought to be closer to Europe. And we ought to have an urgent conversation about how we step up again in relation to defense, security, intelligence collaboration and cooperation [between the] UK [and the] EU," he explained.
Britain held a European Union membership referendum on June 23, 2016 when 51.9% of the British voted to leave the EU and 48.1% voted against Brexit. Following several years of negotiations, the country officially exited the bloc on the night of January 31, 2020.