Starmer and Merz sign historic UK-Germany treaty
發佈日期: 2025-07-18 21:33
TVB News
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signed a landmark treaty on Thursday, their first major pact since the end of World War Two.
The treaty takes in defence ties, Ukraine policy and the battle against criminal gangs ferrying in migrants across the English Channel. Merz said it was "a historic day for German-British relations".
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz looking relaxed and content as they walk towards No 10, Downing Street.
The two leaders had just signed the Kensington Treaty that pledges to tighten defence ties and step up law enforcement cooperation against gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel.
Inside the Prime Minister's iconic office, Merz hailed the historic nature of the treaty.
"I was really surprised this morning to realise that this is the first agreement between our respective countries after the Second World War, we never had one," Merz said. "And, this is really historic that the United Kingdom, and Germany are able to finalise an agreement like this one, which goes so deep in our prospective policies."
At a later news conference in Hertfordshire, Starmer highlighted gang-related arrivals as a priority, with about 37,000 people detected crossing the channel in small boats in 2024.
"And that is why earlier today we did something genuinely unprecedented," said Starmer. "Building on our new agreement with the EU, together we signed the Kensington Treaty, the first ever major bilateral treaty between the United Kingdom and Germany. Two great modern European nations. It's an expression of our shared aims and values. Crucially, we're also working together on illegal migration. And it's a clear sign that we mean business. We are coming after the criminal gangs in every way that we can."
Merz and Starmer also discussed topics including ways to boost European support for Ukraine, following U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of a plan to bolster Kyiv's stockpile by selling American weapons to NATO allies, who would in turn send arms to Kyiv.
