Campbell calls for increased NATO commitment in response to Putin’s ‘undoubted expansionism’

The East Derry MP was speaking in the British House of Commons.

He referred to concerns over Georgia’s Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence that was passed in Tbilisi this week.

"There is growing concern across central and northern Europe about Georgia. Will the Minister have conversations with colleagues in government to ensure that the commitment to NATO of our partners across Europe is increased, to prepare for the undoubted expansionism that Putin is currently engaged in and that he will probably step up in the coming months?” Mr. Campbell asked.

The British armed forces minister Leo Docherty replied: “The hon. Gentleman will have observed, as I have, that the consequence of Putin’s effort to demonstrate NATO’s weakness has been exactly the opposite: NATO is now larger and stronger than it was before February 2022.

"We will lead the way in ensuring that all members meet the investment required to be a member of that tremendous defensive alliance.”

The new legislation passed in Georgia this week requires organisations that receive more than 20 per cent of their funding from foreign sources to register as ‘organizations carrying out in the interests of a foreign power’.

It has sparked mass opposition protests in the Georgian capital while Amnesty International has pointed out how critics say the bill could undermine Georgia’s EU accession ambitions by targeting civil society organisations and independent media, smearing them as ‘foreign agents’.

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