LONDON

The British prime minister on Saturday said Europe must focus on decreasing "some dependencies," and called for creating a "more European NATO."

"We must move forward together to create a more European NATO," Keir Starmer said at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, adding that Europe should focus on "diversifying and decreasing some dependencies."

Defining Europe as a "sleeping giant," he said European economies dwarf Russia's more than 10 times over as Europeans have "huge defense capabilities."

"If necessary, we must be ready to fight, to do whatever it takes to protect our people, our values and our way of life," he added.

Starmer also noted that the UK is not "the Britain of the Brexit years anymore."

"There is no British security without Europe, and no European security without Britain. That is the lesson of history – and it is today’s reality too," he said.

The prime minister reiterated the UK's commitment to collective security clause Article 5, which is "as profound now as ever," and that if called on, the UK would come to aid.

Starmer also announced that the UK will deploy its carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year "in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro Atlantic security."

"We want to bring our leadership in defense tech and AI together with Europe to multiply our strengths and build a shared industrial base across our continent, which can turbocharge our defense production," he added.

Saying that this requires leadership to drive greater coherence and coordination across Europe, Starmer said that is what they are doing with Germany and France in the E3 working closely with EU partners, particularly Italy and Poland, as well as with Norway, Canada and Türkiye.