Germany, UK sign landmark treaty on security, nuclear deterrence
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer have signed a historic friendship treaty on Thursday, paving the way for deeper collaboration between the two nations on security issues, including nuclear deterrence.
The signing in London crowns a diplomatic effort that began last summer when Starmer and Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz, announced that they would seek to sign the countries' first-ever bilateral friendship treaty, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The endeavour, which they said would cover the "full bandwidth of the relationship" has been compared to the wide-ranging Treaty of Aachen, the friendship treaty signed by Germany and France in 2019.
The final text – dubbed the Kensington Treaty – puts security at the heart of the relationship, building on last year's Trinity House Agreement. Both the UK and European countries have sought closer cooperation after Brexit and in the face of America's potential withdrawal from Europe's security architecture.
Among the most eye-catching provisions is the pledge that both Berlin and London would "pursue deep exchanges" and "a close dialogue" on defence and strategic security policy, including on "nuclear issues" and "nuclear threats."
The vow aligns with Merz's push to discuss the extension of the Franco-British nuclear deterrence to the rest of Europe, which remains controversial in pacifist-leaning Germany.
Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron said in May that they would create a high-level Franco-German security council, where such topics would be discussed.
The German-British treaty also establishes annual strategic dialogues to be held between the countries' foreign ministers and senior officials to discuss security issues.
Moreover, it includes a mutual assistance clause, which will "complement and strengthen" the mutual assistance clauses that are established by NATO and existing bilateral treaties between Germany, Britain, and France, a German government source said on Monday.
The new treaty will complete the triangle of large-scale treaties between the three countries, which are also known as the E3.
A senior EU diplomat said the point of such agreements and formats was "to strengthen the individual threads within the web of European relations," some of which had been severed by the UK's exit from the EU.
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