UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signed a bilateral mutual defense agreement in London on July 17. According to Bloomberg and Politico, the pact is seen as a response to "Russia’s increasingly aggressive policies" and growing European concerns about the reliability of the United States within NATO under President Donald Trump.
A senior German official told Bloomberg that the deal should not be viewed as an alternative to NATO’s Article 5, but rather as a reinforcement of bilateral security guarantees amid ongoing geopolitical instability.
The agreement includes a joint plan to develop a long-range missile system with a range of over 2,000 kilometers within the next decade. The goal is to strengthen the defense industries of both countries through significant investment.
The treaty also includes provisions on trade, transport, and migration, aimed at easing the negative impact of Brexit. According to Politico, this is the most significant bilateral agreement between the UK and Germany since World War II.
The foundations of the deal were laid in August 2024 by Keir Starmer and former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who at the time described defense cooperation as the "core" of the future pact.
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