{"id":270201,"date":"2025-07-17T20:23:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T20:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/270201\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T20:23:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T20:23:16","slug":"britain-and-germany-sign-friendship-treaty-centred-on-militarism-and-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/270201\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain and Germany sign \u201cfriendship\u201d treaty centred on militarism and war"},"content":{"rendered":"

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met in London Thursday to sign a \u201cfriendship and bilateral cooperation treaty\u201d. Behind the anodyne words\u2014with Starmer declaring his surprise that this was the first major bilateral treaty agreed between the two countries since the Second World War\u2014the 23-page \u201cKensington Treaty\u201d is centred on the militarist agendas of British and German imperialism.<\/p>\n

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right) and Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor sign the UK-Germany treaty, July 17, 2025 [Photo by Simon Dawson\/No 10 Downing Street \/ CC BY-NC-ND 4.0<\/a>]<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t a single policy laid out that didn\u2019t concern the mad rush to rearmament and war, other than the intensification of anti-immigration measures.<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s major powers are meeting in the \u201cface of fundamental changes of the geopolitical environment,\u201d the Treaty states. There are \u201cmomentous new challenges to Euro-Atlantic security in an era characterised by increased strategic competition, challenges to the rules-based international order\u201d.<\/p>\n

Russia is declared the main enemy, with the countries \u201cIdentifying the Russian Federation\u2019s brutal war of aggression on the European continent as the most significant and direct threat to their security\u201d.<\/p>\n

Britain and Germany, who have armed Ukraine to the teeth for more than three years against Moscow \u201cshall assist one another, including by military means, in case of an armed attack on the other\u201d.<\/p>\n

Chapter 1, Article 1 states under the heading Diplomacy, Security and Development, \u201cForeign Ministers [from London and Berlin] shall hold an annual Strategic Dialogue. A Senior Level Officials Group shall meet annually to coordinate foreign, security and defence policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly framed as an answer to concerns over US President Donald Trump\u2019s commitment to defending Europe, the treaty reaffirms NATO\u2019s policy principle of collective defence, \u201cas stipulated in the North Atlantic Treaty of 4 April 1949, in particular Article 5.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Chapter 2, on Defence Cooperation, clauses are included as a response to the Trump administration\u2019s demand that Europe\u2019s NATO powers step up defence spending and pull their weight militarily: The UK and Germany are \u201cprepared for high-intensity and multi-domain collective defence. They shall provide such forces, capabilities, resources and infrastructure as are needed to enable the execution of the Defence Plans of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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And, \u201cThe Parties shall seek to enhance industrial and capability cooperation through a long-term joint approach endeavouring to deliver effective military capabilities efficiently, minimising national constraints, and strengthening industrial competitiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Closer relations between Germany and Britain are a component of establishing a tripartite alliance with France, the subject of President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s state visit to Britain<\/a> last week. Former UK ambassador to France Peter Ricketts\u2014who served as chair of the\u00a0Joint Intelligence Committee under Labour\u2019s Tony Blair, and as the UK\u2019s first national security adviser from 2010 to 2012 under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition led by David Cameron\u2014summed up what was at stake in a Financial Times op-ed. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe most productive UK-French summit since 2010 will be followed by the first visit of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to London this week. There will be none of the pageantry and glitz of Macron\u2019s state visit, but it will also be an important moment.\u201d <\/p>\n

He described the UK-German treaty as \u201cstrengthening what has been the weakest leg of the London-Paris-Berlin triangle as the three countries take on more responsibility for European security. These agreements turn the page on a decade in which Brexit overshadowed relations between the UK and its neighbours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The summit was held just days after Trump declared that the US would supply Patriot air defence systems and long-range missiles to Ukraine, with the proviso that these had to be bought from the US by the European powers. <\/p>\n

Central to the Starmer\/Merz talks was how to intensify the development of a viable European arms industry capable of waging war against Russia and other rivals independently of Washington. <\/p>\n

Ricketts commented, \u201cThe task of weaning Europe off its decades-long over-dependence on US military power is so vast that close trilateral co-operation on defence, security and foreign policy between London, Paris and Berlin is essential\u2026 Britain is a natural partner for Germany in this transformation. The two countries have traditionally bought far more US military equipment than France and have a shared imperative to develop European alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Starmer, nor Merz\u2014both keen to avoid rupturing relations with Trump who is doubling down on threats to impose 30 percent tariffs on the European Union\u2014are prepared to openly criticise the US over its beggar-thy-neighbour Ukraine arms programme.<\/p>\n

But these tensions still surface, with Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, declaring on the eve of the summit, \u201cIf we pay for these weapons, it\u2019s our support\u2026 If you promise to give the weapons but say that somebody else is going to pay for it, it\u2019s not really given by you, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

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France and Italy have both declined to join Trump\u2019s proposed $10 billion Ukraine weapons fund, thus far leaving Germany purchasing two Patriot systems from Washington and Finland another. <\/p>\n

Referring to the joint development of a new missile system capable of hitting targets at a range of over 2,000 km, i.e. Russia, a Downing Street readout noted \u201cthe leaders reflected on the important commitments made today to deliver the new Deep Precision Strike capability within the next decade and agreed that closer cooperation on defence exports and between their defence industries will pose valuable opportunities for economic growth in both the UK and Germany.\u201d <\/p>\n

This builds on the UK-Germany Trinity House Agreement on Defence signed last December, stipulating increased defence industrial capacity on armoured vehicles and artillery. The RUSI (Royal United Services Institute) thinktank wrote, \u201cSigned just 111 days after the Labour government was elected, the [Trinity House] agreement covers strengthening defence industries, reinforcing Euro-Atlantic security, enhancing interoperability, addressing emerging threats, supporting Ukraine, and working together on future \u2018Deep Precision Strike\u2019 capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramping up preparation for war is premised on the military corporations of both counties reaping gigantic profits in the years ahead. The Financial Times noted this week that the latest agreement will see Britain and Germany \u201cwork more closely to sell jointly made weapons, including Typhoon jets, in a deal that Downing Street claims can unlock \u2018billions of pounds of additional defence exports\u2019\u201d. <\/p>\n

The FT noted that any previous trepidation about selling to dictatorial regimes will be ditched by Germany. The article cited \u201cBritish officials\u201d who \u201csaid Germany would be more open in future to selling equipment such as Eurofighter Typhoons, Airbus A400M military transport aircraft and Boxer armoured vehicles to certain regimes. The previous German government, a three-way coalition that included the Greens, blocked the sale of Typhoons to Ankara after Turkey announced its interest in buying them in 2022, citing political and rights concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holding a joint press conference with Merz at the Airbus plant in Stevenage, Starmer said the treaty was \u201ccommitting not only to our mutual defence but also to maximise the benefits of our defence spending, in the shape of more jobs, more growth and more security. Under this treaty we will bring our industries together to boost defence exports by billions of pounds and we\u2019ll speed up our collaboration on high tech weapons and equipment, strengthening NATO\u2014and keeping our people safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The generally anti-EU Telegraph\u2019s Europe Editor James Crisp commented, \u201cThe blueprint for the future of European defence is buried in Britain\u2019s new \u2018friendship treaty\u2019 with Germany. It\u2019s hidden by the warm talks of school exchanges, shared values, trade and direct rail links but look closely enough and steel foundations are being laid\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a future set to be dominated by the \u2018triangle, of London, Berlin and Paris\u2014a partnership of Europe\u2019s two nuclear powers with its richest nation, which has plans to build its strongest army.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other main area of cooperation to be accelerated is a clampdown on immigration into Europe by refugees and asylum seekers. At the press conference, Starmer congratulated \u201cFriedrich for his leadership on this\u201d, praising their \u201cworking together on illegal migration.\u201d The Downing Street report of the meeting confirmed that Merz would \u201cintroduce legislation to be adopted\u00a0by the end of the year to make it illegal to facilitate illegal migration to the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

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