NEXT EVENT
NOW 12th May 2009
House of Commons
Committee Room 6
18.30 – 20.00
Unforeseen circumstances have meant that Geoffrey van Orden MEP has had to postpone our event scheduled for Tuesday 3rd March.
We hope that those of you who had already indicated you will be able to join us will be able to make this new date, and that those who could not make the old date will be able to make the new one.
|
"Competing Needs, National, NATO and European: Resolving the competition for defence resources"
Speaker:
Geoffrey van Orden MBE MEP, Conservative Spokesman on Defence and Security in the European Parliament, Vice Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee
-----------------------------------------
With a new team in the White House, European elections of the horizon, a NATO Summit in the offing and forces committed in Iraq and Afghanistan defence resources are being pulled in different directions. Will the Obama Administration see NATO as the leading security organisation or will he increasingly look towards the idea of Europe developing its role on the world stage? Will the needs of NATO commitments compete against European commitments? Will nations be expected to build defence forces for the future with the national commitments in mind or European? Can we count on our European neighbours to step up to the plate? What resources should we have to fulfil these competing pulls? What is the role of the European Defence Agency?
Geoffrey van Orden MBE, is the Conservative Party’s Spokesman on Defence and Security in the European Parliament, and is Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament. A former senior army officer retiring at the rank of Brigadier he has extensive international and operational experience, particularly in the field of counter-terrorism. His last military posting was at NATO Headquarters. He has been MEP for the East of England since 1999.
-----------------------------------------
If you wish to attend this event, please would you contact the Director of First Defence, Caroline Flynn-MacLeod at cfm@terringtonmanagement.com as soon as possible as there will be limited space and we expect a large turnout for this event.
|
On 26th January First defence arranged for a group of Shadow Ministers and researchers from the Shadow Defence, Foreign Affairs, Security and Home Affairs teams to receive briefings at NATO Headquarters. Here they are pictured with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
|
First Defence believes IT IS TIME TO PUT OUR ARMED FORCES FIRST
Support the First Defence Petition now http://www.firstdefence.org/html/Petition.htm
'THE MILITARY COVENANT' - THE LAW AND MILITARY OPERATIONS
Read the speech by Charles Garraway, 2nd October 2007
http://www.firstdefence.org/Garraway.doc
RUSSIAN RESURGENCE
First Defence has written to the The Editor of The Evening Standard regarding the diplomatic 'stand-off' between this country and Russia.
http://www.firstdefence.org/Russianresurgence.html
PART TIME MINISTERS
First Defence has also written to the The Editor of The Times regarding downgrading ministerial commitment for the current wars we are fighting by making these part-time appointments. For full text see: http://www.firstdefence.org/PartTimeMinisters.htm |