Russia: Former navy officer warns about Putin nuclear threat
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Patrick Harvie, deputy leader of the Greens, joined the Scottish Government last year in a power-sharing agreement with Ms Sturgeon’s SNP. The alternative argues Mr Harvie would be to “work in a cooperative way with our neighbours”, without being tied to an alliance.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several non-aligned members have rushed to change their stance on NATO.
Both Sweden and Finland, traditionally neutral states, have submitted an expression of interest to join the pact.
Russia has warned of consequences should the Scandinavian nations join.
Green’s ideology over NATO comes through its opposition to nuclear proliferation.
Ms Sturgeon’s SNP however is in favour of the alliance, a move the party adopted over a decade ago, however, the party is still keen on removing nuclear warheads from the Clyde area.
Patrick Harvie joined the Scottish Government in an alliance with the SNP (Image: Getty)
Finland has announced their intentions to join NATO (Image: Getty)
Speaking to Scottish media, Mr Harvie said: “What I do see is a recognition that strategic cooperation is really important - that our peace and security depends on countries working together.
“One of the interesting things about the current crisis is it's an attempt to show that coordinated concerted economic measures can be used as an alternative to military intervention.
“An institution like the EU is, in some ways, more critical than NATO in the immediate term.
“In the longer term, we all have to hope that the current threat will end - but we don't know that, so strategic cooperation for defence purposes is important as well."
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Sweden has also broken away from its neutral stance and is seeking to join the alliance (Image: Getty)
Patrick Harvie says nuclear weapons "don't keep us safe" (Image: Getty)
He continued: “I would like to think that there is a way to achieve that level of cooperation between countries that are committed to democracy and peace and security - but without everyone having to be under a first-strike nuclear policy.
“So I doubt very much my party is going to want to ditch its policy on NATO - but I do think there is an appetite for discussion about how do you achieve strategic cooperation for peace-building in a way that will include countries that want to join, and countries that are not part of that."
“Finland and Sweden have worked closely with NATO even though they have not been members.”
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The UK's nuclear deterrence is located in Scotland (Image: Getty)
Speaking to the Daily Record, Mr Harvie added: “I would like to think everyone in an independent Scotland would want it to work in a cooperative way with our neighbours - especially to protect peace and the economic and social conditions that give rise to peace.
“This isn't something that happens out of context - the climate emergency, for example, is one of the biggest strategic and security threats the planet faces.
“The pressure on resources that countries are going to be living with through the 21st century is potentially a deep cause of conflict throughout the world.
“Nuclear weapons don't keep us safe, they keep us in peril.”
During the Cold War, the "security dilemma" prevented nuclear weapons being used (Image: Getty)
According to academic theories, the possession of nuclear weapons provides some form of security and stability under a context known as the “security dilemma”.
Seen during the height of the Cold War, although both the US and the Soviet Union possessed and continually reminded each of a nuclear threat, the dilemma of actually using them caused a stand-off that actually contributed to security.
Avoiding the notion of a rogue leader or non-state actor obtaining and using such weapons, the deterrence theory does actually provide a safety net.
Scotland is home to HMNB Clyde, located at Faslane on the Gare Loch.
Known as the home of Britain’s nuclear weapons, the base is home to the UK’s Trident nuclear missile submarine fleet.
According to armscontrol.org, The UK has around 225 nuclear warheads.
Russia has the most with over 6,250, followed by the US with 5,550 and China with 350.