The leaders of the United Kingdom and Germany to sign a Defense, Trade and Migration Treaty
London (AP) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz should sign a Treaty Thursday committing to tighten defense ties and intensify cooperation in terms of law enforcement against gangs that pass migrants through the English channel.
The German chief of the center-right is in London during his first official visit to Great Britain since his entry into office in May. Starmer went to Berlin in August 2024, announcing plans for the “friendship and cooperation” treaty of the United Kingdom with the predecessor of Merz, Olaf Scholz.
A priority for Starmer, who heads the Labor Party of the Center-Gauche, is to brake the gangs behind inter-channel people. About 37,000 people were detected by crossing the English channel from France in small boats in 2024, and more than 20,000 people went up to level in the first six months of 2025. Dozens of people died while trying to cross.
Berlin agreed last year to facilitate the smuggling of migrants in the United Kingdom a criminal offense, a decision that will give the law forces more powers to investigate the supply and storage of small boats to be used for crossings. Merz should commit to adopting the change of law by the end of the year.
“The Chancellor Merz’s commitment to the necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of dangerous ships which transport illegal migrants through the chain is extremely welcome,” said Starmer, calling the United Kingdom and Germany “closest to the allies”.
Germany and the United Kingdom – the largest and largest economies in Europe – should also announce a series of investment transactions.
The treaty is based on a defense pact in the United Kingdom and Germany, two of the largest European supporters in Ukraine, signed last year by promising closer cooperation against a growing threat from Russia. It includes a promise to go to each other in the event of an attack.
The two leaders should also agree joint export campaigns on joint equipment such as Boxer armored vehicles and Typhon jets on Thursday, and to develop a deep precision typing missile during the next decade.
Starmer worked to improve relations with the neighbors of Great Britain, tense by the acrimonious departure of the United Kingdom of the European Union in 2020. He sought to rebuild links tense by years of fighting Brexit. He excluded to join the single market or the customs union of the block of 27 countries, and was cool at the idea of a mobility agreement for young people with the EU, but sought to reduce trade barriers and strengthen defense cooperation.
“I have no secrets that I regret a lot to date that Great Britain has left the European Union,” Merz told the German parliament last week. “But if they work at least with us in the field of foreign and security policy, then it is a very good sign. Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants it. “
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Moulson reported in Berlin.
