The head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has said that the world is "more dangerous than it has been in four decades" because of the wars in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine, with Western countries such as the United States becoming increasingly involved in the conflicts.
Sir Richard Moore made the statement at the British embassy in Paris during an event that marked 120 years of the Entente Cordiale, a pact that merged the UK and France together as military and diplomatic allies, per the Daily Mail.
Speaking alongside the head of France's external intelligence agency the DGSE, Nicholas Lerner, Moore said "In 37 years in the intelligence profession I've never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious."
Lerner agreed that "the collective security of the whole of Europe is at stake" in Ukraine.
Moore continued, stating that Ukraine, which Britain has allowed to use UK missiles to strike Russia, has "the will to win" but added that the UK and the West have said they need to "do more to help."
"We have a war on European soil… Nicolas and I are in no doubt about the stakes in Ukraine: if Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there," he stated.
Turning his focus to the war in the Middle East which started between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas after the October 7 massacre, Moore warned "We have yet to have a full reckoning with the radicalising impact of the fighting, the terrible loss of innocent life in the Middle East and the horrors of October 7."
He said that the "menace of terrorism has not gone away" and that the presence of other terrorist groups such as ISIS has been widening. He urged the police force and spy agencies in the UK to be "on their toes" after the Middle East has seen multiple changes of leadership.
Sir Richard Moore made the statement at the British embassy in Paris during an event that marked 120 years of the Entente Cordiale, a pact that merged the UK and France together as military and diplomatic allies, per the Daily Mail.
Speaking alongside the head of France's external intelligence agency the DGSE, Nicholas Lerner, Moore said "In 37 years in the intelligence profession I've never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious."
Lerner agreed that "the collective security of the whole of Europe is at stake" in Ukraine.
Moore continued, stating that Ukraine, which Britain has allowed to use UK missiles to strike Russia, has "the will to win" but added that the UK and the West have said they need to "do more to help."
"We have a war on European soil… Nicolas and I are in no doubt about the stakes in Ukraine: if Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there," he stated.
Turning his focus to the war in the Middle East which started between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas after the October 7 massacre, Moore warned "We have yet to have a full reckoning with the radicalising impact of the fighting, the terrible loss of innocent life in the Middle East and the horrors of October 7."
He said that the "menace of terrorism has not gone away" and that the presence of other terrorist groups such as ISIS has been widening. He urged the police force and spy agencies in the UK to be "on their toes" after the Middle East has seen multiple changes of leadership.
