UK signs treaty on defense, trade and migration with Germany as Europe
bolsters security
[July 18, 2025]
By JILL LAWLESS and GEIR MOULSON
LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor
Friedrich Merz signed a landmark treaty on Thursday that pledges to
tighten defense ties, as European nations try to protect Ukraine, and
themselves, from an aggressive Russia in the face of wavering support
from President Donald Trump's U.S.-focused administration.
Merz said it was "a historic day for German-British relations” as he
signed an agreement that also commits the two countries to boost
investment and strengthen law-enforcement cooperation against criminal
people-smuggling gangs using the English Channel.
“We want to work together more closely, particularly after the United
Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union," Merz said. "It is overdue
for us to conclude such a treaty with each other.”
A partnership with a purpose
The treaty builds on a defense pact the U.K. and Germany, two of the
biggest European supporters of Ukraine, signed last year committing to
closer co-operation against the growing threat from Russia.
It includes a promise to “assist one another, including by military
means, in case of an armed attack on the other,” though it's unclear
what practical impact that will have, since both countries are NATO
members and bound by the alliance's mutual defense pact.
Starmer said the treaty — signed at London’s V&A Museum, which is named
after Queen Victoria and her German husband, Prince Albert — sealed a
“partnership with a purpose.”
“We see the scale of the challenges our continent faces today, and we
intend to meet them head on," Starmer said during a joint news confernce
at an Airbus defense and space factory north of London.
The U.K.-Germany treaty follows agreements signed during a state visit
last week by President Emmanuel Macron, in which France and Britain
pledged to coordinate their nuclear deterrents for the first time.
Germany does not have nuclear weapons. The treaty with Britain says the
countries will “maintain a close dialogue on defense issues of mutual
interest ... including on nuclear issues.”
The treaty stressed a “shared commitment to the security of the
Euro-Atlantic area, and underpinned by enhanced European contributions”
— a nod to Trump, who has demanded European NATO members greatly
increase military spending. Germany and the U.K. have both promised to
raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP in the coming years.
Merz, making his first trip to the U.K. since taking office in May, said
it was “no coincidence” he traveled to London a week after Macron.
“The E3 – Great Britain, France and Germany — are converging in their
positions on foreign policy, on security policy, on migration policy,
but also on economic policy issues,” he said.
Weapons for Ukraine
Merz and Starmer discussed ways to boost European support for Ukraine,
following Trump’s announcement of a plan to bolster Kyiv’s stockpile by
selling American weapons to NATO allies who would in turn send arms to
Kyiv.
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Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and German Chancellor
Friedrich Merz, left, with Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs
Johann Wadephul, behind left, and Britain's Foreign Secretary David
Lammy, behind right, as they attend a signing ceremony of a
wide-ranging bilateral cooperation treaty in London, Thursday, July
17, 2025.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein, Pool)
Merz signaled that those plans are still a work in progress, saying
it might take “days, perhaps weeks” before weapons reach Ukraine.
He said that “above all, we need clarity on how weapons systems that
are given up from the European side will be replaced by the U.S.”
During the trip the leaders announced that German defense startup
Stark, which makes drones for Ukraine, will open a factory in
England. They also agreed to jointly produce defense exports such as
Boxer armored vehicles and Typhoon jets, and to develop a deep
precision strike missile in the next decade.
Starmer also praised Merz for his help curbing the smuggling gangs
that brought 37,000 people across the English Channel from France in
small boats in 2024, and more than 22,000 so far in 2025. Dozens
have died attempting the journey.
Berlin agreed last year to make facilitating the smuggling of
migrants to the U.K. a criminal offence, a move that will give law
enforcement more powers to investigate the supply and storage of
small boats to be used for the crossings.
Merz committed to adopting the law change by the end of the year, a
move Starmer said "is hugely welcome.”
Student exchange trips
Starmer has worked to improve relations with Britain’s neighbors,
strained by the U.K.’s acrimonious departure from the European Union
in 2020. He has sought to rebuild ties strained by years of
ill-tempered wrangling over Brexit terms, and worked to reduce trade
barriers and to strengthen defense cooperation.
But he has ruled out rejoining the 27-nation bloc’s single market or
customs union, and has been cool to the idea of a youth mobility
agreement with the EU.
Britain and Germany agreed on a more limited arrangement that will
make it easier for schoolchildren to go on exchange trips.
“I am glad we were able to reach an agreement so that schoolchildren
and students can come to Britain more easily in the future, and the
other way round can come to Germany more easily, so that the young
generation in particular has an opportunity to get to know both
countries better,” Merz said.
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Moulson reported from Berlin.
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