Merz urges UK, Germany, and France to unite on migration and defence

Germany, and the UK hailed a major treaty to deepen ties in many areas ranging from defence to immigration. It's the latest push from Britain to reset relations with the European Union after Brexit in 2020. It comes after a recent treaty between France and the UK was signed last week.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signed the Kensington treaty on Thursday (17 July) - the first formal UK-Germany agreement since WWII. The treaty outlines cooperation on migration, defence technology, trade, and education, including school exchanges as well as a rail link for a London–Berlin line .

Though Merz “deeply deplores” Brexit, he emphasized the importance of including the UK in European security efforts during growing threats from Russia and uncertainty over the U.S.’s NATO role.

Merz also said that the recent agreement between the UK and France should be extended to include Germany, creating a more unified approach to tackling irregular migration and urges for a trilateral agreement. 

Merz's day trip follows a three-day state visit to Britain by French President Emmanuel Macron, signalling greater cooperation between Europe's top three powers at a time of threats to the continent and uncertainty about their U.S. ally.

"The cooperation between the United Kingdom and France … has to be complemented by an agreement that we aim to achieve between the three of us: UK, Germany, France,” Merz stated.

Starmer supported this, describing the pact as “a statement of our ambition to work ever more closely together.”

"We see the scale of the challenges our continent faces today, and we intend to meet them head on," Starmer said.

This aligns the UK more closely with Europe’s largest powers on critical security and migration challenges intensified by the Ukraine war.

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