I believe these partnerships are the secret weapon of free nations, never more valuable than today.
And it was that same insight which inspired the Entente Cordiale 120 years ago this year, when Britain and France resolved to unite our destinies, and stand together against common treats.
UK intelligence chief accuses Russia of 'staggeringly reckless' sabotage campaign
Moore was speaking alongside DGSE chief Nicolas Lerner at an event marking 120 years of the Entente Cordiale, a pact between Britain and France that bound the age-old rivals together as military and diplomatic allies.
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The hybrid threat to Europe
Western security officials suspect that Russian intelligence is trying to destabilize Ukraine's allies with an array of disruptive tactics, among them disinformation, sabotage and arson.
- Ukraine said last week it had used the American ATACMS missiles to target Russia for the first time in the war.
- Since then, Russia has pounded Ukraine's energy infrastructure with hundreds of missiles and drones, a barrage Putin has framed as a response to the firing of US-made missiles at Russian targets.
He said that if Russia wins, Iran, China and North Korea — which so far support Moscow as "a transaction" — would tighten their existing ties with the Kremlin.
"If Putin succeeds, China would weigh the implications, North Korea would be emboldened and Iran would become yet more dangerous," Moore warned.
The whole of Europe needs an Entente Cordiale
Editorial: As some kind of peace settlement in Ukraine approaches – and with it, a further encroachment of Russian occupation and influence, helped by Donald Trump – there is no alternative but to start to build a Europe that can defend itself
By:Jan van der Made with RFI
Background
The French term Entente Cordiale (usually translated as "cordial agreement" or "cordial understanding") comes from a letter written in 1843 by the British Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen to his brother, in which he mentioned "a cordial, good understanding" between the two nations.
This was translated into French as Entente Cordiale and used by Louis Philippe I in the French Chamber of Peers that year.
When used today the term almost always denotes the second Entente Cordiale, that is to say, the written and partly secret agreement signed in London between the two powers on 8 April 1904.
The agreement was a change for both countries.
- France had been isolated from the other European powers, in part because of the destruction of the Napoleonic Wars, threat of liberalism and perceived recklessness in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.
- German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck also managed to estrange France from potential allies, taking advantage of fears France might seek revenge for its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, reverse its territorial losses and continue to press for the conquest of the Saar and territories in the Ruhr.
The Entente Cordiale was a diplomatic agreement signed between the United Kingdom and France in 1904. It marked the end of centuries of intermittent conflict and competition between the two nations, particularly in colonial territories.
The agreement resolved various colonial disputes between France and Britain, mainly in Africa. It also paved the way for closer diplomatic and military cooperation between the two countries.
Although it was not a formal alliance, the Entente Cordiale was a significant step towards the alignment of British and French interests, particularly in the face of rising tensions in Europe leading up to World War I.
The agreement was driven largely by growing militarism across Europe, which saw Germany pushing to develop its armed land forces and maritime forces.
- In 1900, Germany issued a new Navy Law, part of which envisaged the construction of 19 new battleships and 23 cruisers over the following 20 years.
- The UK, until then the world's dominant maritime power, felt threatened by the move and went looking for friends.
Historian Barbara Tuchman, writing in her chronicle of that time The Proud Tower, says that Edward VII, the new king of England, in response "prepared the ground for reconciliation with France" and visited Paris "with tact and aplomb."
The result was the Entente Cordiale, or the "Agreement between Great Britain and France". It was signed on 8 April 1904.
'Forgetting old quarrels'
In the text, Paris and London agreed to forget "old quarrels [with a view] to establishing a new friendship and fundamentally defining the balance of Europe."
In August 1905 French dignitaries visited the UK to celebrate the agreement with French President Emile Loubet (bottom left, with sash) and King Edward VII. © Ancient post cardThe text gave the French fishing rights in formerly disputed areas near Newfoundland, fixed boundaries between French and British colonies in Niger and Chad, Siam (Thailand) and solved disputes regarding Zanzibar, Madagascar and the New Hebrides.
The Franco-British alliance was preceded by a rapprochement between France and Russia, signed in 1892, when Paris and Moscow agreed to form a military pact in the face of growing German militarism.
Map of the "entente" states (the French-UK "Entente Cordiale) and the French Russian pact forming together the "Triple Entente" vs the central "Triple Alliance" of Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary at the eve of WW 1. © Wikimedia CommonsWhen the Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip murdered Austro-Hungarian Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand on 28 April 1914, Vienna declared war on Serbia.
When Russia, Serbia's traditional ally, started mobilising along the Austrian and Hungarian border and did not react to a German ultimatum to stand down, Berlin mobilised and declared war on Russia. It demanded, but did not get a guarantee of French neutrality. Its invasion of Belgium triggered Britain's entry into the war followed by France as its ally in the Entente.
'Close friendship'
The Entente Cordiale lasted through two world wars and continues today.
Before celebrating the 120th anniversary of the treaty, British Foreign Minister David Cameron and his French counterpart, Stéphane Séjourné, celebrated what they described as their close friendship in a joint op-ed published on Sunday in the British newspaper The Telegraph.
Talking about NATO and its increased involvement in the war in Ukraine, they wrote: "Britain and France, two founding members and Europe's nuclear powers, have a responsibility in driving the alliance to deal with the challenges before it.
"We must do even more to ensure we defeat Russia. The world is watching – and will judge us if we fail."
During the ceremonies, British guards took part in the changing of the guard outside the Elyéee Palace of President Emmanuel Macron, who watched together with Menna Rawlings, the British Ambassador to France.
Members of France's Gendarmerie Garde Republicaine take part in a special Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London on April 8, 2024, to mark the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale. AFP - HENRY NICHOLLS"This is the first time in the history of the Elysée that foreign troops have been invited to participate in this military ritual," a French presidential official said.
Meanwhile, French guards did the same outside Buckingham Palace in London, watched by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie. The UK 's chief of the general staff, General Patrick Sanders, and the French chief of the army staff Pierre Schill were also in attendance.
Speech by Sir Richard Moore, Chief of SIS, 29 November 2024
Sir Richard Moore, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, discussed the UK-France intelligence relationship and the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale
Your Excellencies,
Mon cher collègue Nicolas Lerner, le Directeur Générale de la sécurité extérieure,
Ladies and gentlemen, mesdames et messieurs,
Thank you Ambassador, Menna, to you and your team for hosting this splendid occasion, and to my dear friend and colleague Nicolas for his very kind words of introduction.
I’m not sure I can compete with you on popular culture so I’m going to leave that to one side.
As Chief of MI6, I tend to limit my public interventions to occasions when I believe I can contribute to public understanding of specific events.
But today, I want to talk about something else, the bigger picture if you like. I want to take this opportunity to highlight the hidden strengths of our democracies, the deep alliances built on shared values and forged in our collective work to maintain peace, freedom, and open societies.
Back in September, the Director of the CIA, Bill Burns, and I talked about Britain and America’s special relationship.
And I am here in Paris to highlight another of our vital partnerships: with France and the DGSE. Britain and France; Britain and the United States. Nations built on the same ideals, creating partnerships through friendship, joint endeavour and historic achievement, transcending the generations.
I believe these partnerships are the secret weapon of free nations, never more valuable than today.
And it was that same insight which inspired the Entente Cordiale 120 years ago this year, when Britain and France resolved to unite our destinies, and stand together against common treats.
As early as 1912, the first Chief of MI6, Mansfield Cumming, made his first ever visit to a foreign partner, by coming to France to meet the Deuxième Bureau, to compare insights on German capabilities and intentions.
He began a tradition which our Services have honoured through two World Wars, one Cold War, and countless crises, including those that we face today in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Time and again our friendship has been tested in adversity: starting with the cataclysm of the First World War, with Verdun being the epitome of French sacrifice, and the Somme evoking the same emotion in British hearts.
But one of the greatest crises of them all unfolded barely 60 miles from this room when, in March 1918, the British and French armies came close to being overwhelmed by Germany’s last great offensive of the War.
And in the heat of that emergency, our two countries asked Marechal Foch to become supreme commander of Allied forces on the Western Front.
And at a stroke, the British government placed the biggest land army Britain had ever fielded under French command. Foch and his allied comrades turned retreat into victory in just eight months, and afterwards Foch said: ‘I am conscious of having served England as I served my own country’.
Later, in a time of still graver peril, General de Gaulle proclaimed in his ‘Appel’ on 18 June 1940, ‘La France n’est pas seule ! Elle n’est pas seule !’.
France was indeed not alone, because de Gaulle was broadcasting from London, re-igniting on British soil what he termed “The flame of French resistance”.
That flame in turn was kindled by the men and women of the Special Operations Executive, asked by Churchill to ‘set Europe ablaze’.
After the war, the SOE was merged into SIS, and we cherish our heritage of covert action which we keep alive today in helping Ukraine resist the Russian invasion.
The depth and trust of the intelligence cooperation between La France libre and Britain, embodying the spirit of the Entente Cordiale, was symbolised by the formation of DGSE’s forerunner, the Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Actions in 1940, by Colonel André Dewavrin with the help and support of SIS.
This year, we marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the liberation of France.
And behind that story lies an extraordinary example of wartime Franco-British intelligence cooperation.
Thousands of French men and women chose to risk their lives as members of the BCRA’s Centurie network in Normandy to provide vital intelligence on the ‘guns, concrete and steel’ of Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall”.
Everything from the arrival of troop trains, to the locations of machine-gun nests, bunkers, radar stations and minefields. Long before the liberating armies stormed the beaches, the French people were the eyes and ears of the Allies, allowing the comprehensive mapping of German positions.
The triumph of D-day began with this triumph of intelligence, which united French courage and élan with the code-breaking brilliance of Bletchley Park and the agent-running skills of BCRA and SIS.
Britain and France fought this secret war together: and earlier this month, President Macron and Prime Minister Starmer retraced the steps of de Gaulle and Churchill in 1944 to the Arc de Triomphe paying their tribute to the shared sacrifice which has allowed all of us to live in peace and freedom.
Today, the Franco-British relationship builds on everything we have achieved together through the Entente Cordiale to secure peace and prosperity in Europe and further afield. And that partnership has never been more vital.
In 37 years in the intelligence profession, I have never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe – our shared European home – could hardly be more serious.
The menace of terrorism has not gone away: after retreating in Syria and Iran, Islamic State is again expanding its reach, inflicting deadly attacks in both Iran and Russia.
The Taleban, the hosts of Al Qaida, once again rule Afghanistan. And we have yet to have a full reckoning with the radicalising impact of the fighting and terrible loss of innocent life in the Middle East, after the horrors of October 7.
We and our allies agree on the imperative of de-escalation, breaking the cycle of violence and delivering the ceasefire in Gaza that follows the hard-won truce in Lebanon: DGSE and SIS share reporting insights so that discussion about peace can benefit form a common intelligence picture.
Iran’s allied militias across the Middle East have suffered serious blows, but the regime’s nuclear ambitions continue to threaten all of us, especially friends of France and the UK in the Gulf region, and the Iranian regime maintains its efforts to eliminate dissidents, home and abroad.
We must navigate the rise of an increasingly assertive China which sometimes competes with our interests and whose values often do not align with our own.
As the Prime Minister said at the G20, a strong UK-China relationship is important for both of our countries, and for the international community more broadly.
We play our part in MI6, keeping lines of communication open with our Chinese counterparts.
However, when our values diverge, we must, as the Prime Minister said, respond in a way that shows that the UK is a consistent, sovereign actor committed to the rule of law. And we always will.
Most of all though, we again have a war on European soil.
Nicolas and I are in no doubt about what is at stake in Ukraine: if Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state, he will not stop there.
Our security – British, French, European and transatlantic – will be jeopardised.
The cost of supporting Ukraine is well known, but the cost of not doing so would be infinitely higher.
If Putin succeeds, China would weigh the implications, North Korea would be emboldened, and Iran would become yet more dangerous.
We have recently uncovered a staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe, even as Putin and his acolytes resort to nuclear sabre-rattling, to sow fear about the consequences of aiding Ukraine, and challenge Western resolve in so doing.
Such activity and rhetoric is dangerous and beyond irresponsible.
We have no doubt that our Ukrainian friends have the will to win.
SIS and DGSE intelligence has been critical to calibrating risk and informing the decisions of our respective governments so they can navigate successfully Putin’s mix of bluster and aggression.
As our two leaders affirmed in Paris, France and Britain are united and unflinching in our determination to support Ukraine, for as long as it takes, to defeat Russia’s war of aggression, and protect European security and the international order.
Together Europe and North America have many times Russia’s GDP and defence budget.
75 years after its foundation, we have a larger and stronger NATO than when Putin invaded Ukraine.
Our allies in northern and eastern Europe are sharing their expertise from their long and bitter experience as Russia’s neighbours.
We know that we all need to do more: that’s why the British government has committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence.
But we should never doubt that our alliance has strength in numbers, both economic and military, and our unity of purpose makes that count.
Putin, by contrast, is jeopardising Russia’s future, pouring vast sums into his military machine and squandering tens of thousands of lives – Russian and now North Korean – in his catastrophic conflict.
Putin has made Russia demandeur to Tehran, Beijing and Pyongyang.
I do not doubt the transactional consequence of that arrangement and the succour it brings to Russia.
But it is a transaction: there is no real trust or respect, its roots are shallow. There are limits to the partnership.
As Nicolas and Sir John Scarlett, one of my distinguished predecessors here today, they would tell you: trust, mutual respect and unity of purpose, sit at the heart of every enduring alliance.
As I have warned previously, Russia should avoid the classic error of the authoritarian state, which confuses the splendidly irreverent clash and thunder of democracy, with weakness and irresolution.
Our democracy is our strength, continuously bestowing legitimacy on our leaders’ decisions.
Since the summer, the UK has a new Prime Minister, France has a new government, and America has elected its next President.
For decades the US-UK intelligence alliance has made our societies safer; I worked successfully with the first Trump administration to advance our shared security and I look forward to doing so again.
Together, as allies, our collective strengths will outmatch and outlast Putin’s morally bankrupt axis of aggression.
The 120 years of the Entente Cordiale remind us of the deep roots of our friendship and how often we have risen to even graver challenges with courage, determination, and ingenuity.
On both sides of the Channel, the cooperation between SIS, GCHQ, and DGSE, together with our sister services, MI5 and DGSI, lies at the heart of the Entente Cordiale. Officers from MI6 and DGSE work arm in arm countering terrorism in forbidding locations, preventing the proliferation of weapons and countering Russian aggression.
But we do not just cooperate on “the what” – the intelligence picture – but also “the how” – devising together the means for discovering the information our governments need to guarantee our security.
Years of technical collaboration mean we are constantly learning from each other in delivering technology to enable operations.
We have shared our AI strategies, to understand its potential, and asses the threat it poses to free societies.
Our intelligence officers, data scientists, engineers, linguists, and analysts, are in regular dialogue, continuously shuttling beneath the Channel on the Eurostar, which carried its first passengers thirty years ago this November.
These professional and personal connections, built up over many years – like mine with Nicolas and those of our leadership teams – help us to have honest conversations and make pragmatic decisions.
We frequently apply a “best athlete” approach to operations, where we decide which agency would be best placed to pursue an opportunity, for our shared benefit.
And talking of “best athletes”, as Nicolas noted, our teamwork was demonstrated to the full during the Paris Olympics when we worked together to keep the athletes and spectators safe.
The backdrop to Paris 2024 was far from rosy: with threats in various guises.
My service and our UK counterparts worked hand-in-glove with French colleagues – just as they supported us so brilliantly in the run-up to London 2012 – to help them deliver a successful Olympics, a fantastic exhibition of all that is great about France, and Paris in particular.
Who here will forget fencers silhouetted against the magnificent Grand Palais, or the roars of the crowd around the pool in La Défense as Léon Marchand raced to gold after gold?
This global showcase of the best of humanity simply would not have happened safely without the work and commitment outside the stadia of the men and women of DGSE and DGSI, and I pay tribute to them and their police colleagues.
In our business, success is often invisible, but no less valid for that. This is something we tell our new officers.
MI6 and DGSE put in a lot of effort to ensure we recruit talented people, capable of developing cutting-edge tech, judging risk and crafting operations to persuade people to work with us.
Doing this is only possible with a diverse range of officers whose varied background and experience make us better at spying as well as reflecting the countries we serve.
I want to return to the theme that frames today’s lecture: how our secret strength is found in the alliances that we maintain through thick and thin, over decades.
Contrasted to the tactical cooperation of others, it is our deep alliances that give us the critical edge we need.
In our business, perhaps more than many others, you need friends you can rely on.
I have been blessed with outstanding counterparts in DGSE: first Bernard Émié and now Nicolas, who led the French domestic service DGSI until Céline Berthon took over last year.
Together, the three of us, along with my British colleagues Ken McCallum of MI5 and Anne Keast-Butler of GCHQ, are living not only an Entente Cordiale, but, I might venture to suggest, an Entente Amicale.
The French Republic crystallises our shared ideals into three words: Liberté. Égalité. Fraternité.
That immortal rallying cry inspires our partnership, and stirs British and French hearts alike.
It is in this spirit that we are equipping an intelligence partnership forged in the darkest moments of the 20th century, for the challenges of the 21st.
Vive l’Entente Cordiale ! Vive l’Entente Amicale !
Thank you.
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