Britain and Germany signed a landmark defense treaty on Thursday, further evidence of how European leaders are drawing together to confront a security landscape scrambled by President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and President Vladimir V. Putin’s relentless assault on Ukraine.
The Anglo-German accord, signed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Friedrich Merz during his visit to London, covers energy, economic cooperation and migration, in addition to defense.
It builds on an agreement signed last October, under which the two agreed to cooperate on mutual defense, with joint military exercises and the development of sophisticated weapons.
The treaty includes a pledge by both countries to regard a threat against one as a threat against the other, declaring that they will “assist one another, including by military means, in case of an armed attack on the other.” That echoed language adopted by Britain and France, which pledged last week to more closely coordinate their nuclear arsenals in responding to threats against European allies.
Mr. Merz, a center-right leader who came to power in May, has swiftly emerged as a linchpin in Europe’s effort to build a more independent role in its security since the return of Mr. Trump to the White House. Mr. Starmer, who welcomed Mr. Merz to 10 Downing Street, has likewise tried to position Britain as a key player in European support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Germany does not possess nuclear weapons, but it is the third-largest supplier of military hardware to Ukraine, after the United States and Britain, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Under Mr. Merz, Germany has agreed to increase its military spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2029, its most ambitious rearmament since the end of the Cold War.
Britain and Germany have each made strides in recent years in tightening security cooperation and other relations with France, said Mark Leonard, the director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a research organization. But the British-German relationship has been slower to evolve.
“The signing of this treaty really is a big step forward,” Mr. Leonard said.
Georgina Wright, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Paris, said the treaty was, in one respect, an “easy win” for the countries, since Britain and Germany had no institutional framework that formalized their cooperation on defense. “This was about plugging a very clear gap,” she said.
German officials told reporters this week that the agreement, which they refer to as a “friendship contract,” is the latest effort to bring the two countries closer at a time of heightened security concerns, and to bridge divides that had been opened by Britain’s exit from the European Union.
At a time of economic stagnation in Britain and Germany, the friendship agreement includes steps to strengthen commercial ties, from a scientific research partnership to improved rail connections. It also features several measures related to migration.
Those include new cooperation to combat human trafficking and more targeted efforts to make it easier for British or German citizens to visit each other’s countries post-Brexit — like easier passage for British people at German airports, and simpler requirements for German schoolchildren visiting London.
Migration was the centerpiece of President Emmanuel Macron of France’s visit to Britain. He and Mr. Starmer agreed to a pilot program, nicknamed “one-in, one-out,” under which Britain would send back to France about 50 people a week who had made risky crossings of the English Channel in small boats. In return, it would accept a comparable number of migrants with processed claims to asylum in Britain.
For reasons of diplomatic protocol, Mr. Merz’s visit will be more modest and businesslike than that of Mr. Macron, who was given a horse-drawn carriage ride and a banquet at Windsor Castle. Unlike Mr. Macron, Mr. Merz is not a head of state (Germany has a largely ceremonial president). Mr. Starmer is the chancellor’s host, while King Charles III invited Mr. Macron, reciprocating for his own state visit to France in 2023.
When Mr. Trump makes an expected rare second state visit to Britain in mid-September, he, like Mr. Macron, will get the full ruffles and flourishes. Later this month, Mr. Trump will make a semiprivate visit to his two golf clubs in Scotland. He is expected to meet with Mr. Starmer, though not with the king, while there.
Still, the lack of pomp and pageantry for Mr. Merz says little about the importance of the relationship between him and Mr. Starmer. Both are centrist leaders, struggling to govern in polarized political systems.
Both are also relatively new, meaning they could work together for years. Mr. Starmer just marked his first anniversary in office; Mr. Macron, by contrast, is in the twilight of his presidency, with elections in France scheduled for 2027.
Stephen Castle contributed reporting
Mark Landler is the London bureau chief of The Times, covering the United Kingdom, as well as American foreign policy in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has been a journalist for more than three decades.
Jim Tankersley is the Berlin bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The post German and U.K. Leaders Sign Mutual Defense Pact as U.S. Steps Back appeared first on New York Times.
