WEBVTT

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- This rapid response force was agreed at the Wales summit

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in Britain, nearly three years ago and it's so important

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to demonstrate the reality that we are ready to reinforce,

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ready to work with the other countries right across

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the NATO alliance to be sure that we can

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respond to any threat.

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Well the security position has deteriorated over

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the last couple of years.

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Three years we've seen the annexation of Crimea,

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the continuing unrest in the Ukraine, a strong Russian

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naval presence, not just in the Black Sea but also

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in the Eastern Mediterranean as well as pressure

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on the Baltic states.

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So, it's all the more important that NATO pulls

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together and demonstrates that it is ready to respond to

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any of the 29 members who are under threat.

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Any member of the alliance is entitled to the

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protection of the rest of the alliance and the

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Baltic states have felt particularly under pressure.

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They have a frontier with Russia.

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There are huge Russian exercises underway

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on their borders and it's very important that

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any NATO state get the reassurance that it needs,

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and we are deploying not just in Estonia,

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but in Poland this exercise here and

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of course the typhoon deployment on the Black Sea itself.

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They should feel reassured.

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That's the purpose of demonstrating that we can

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reinforce extremely quickly that NATO is a defensive

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alliance but it is ready to defend itself to deter

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and to reassure.

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- [Interviewer] Great thank you sir for your time.

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- Okay