British PM arrives in Berlin on state visit – DW – 08/28/2024

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Berlin on Tuesday evening (27/08/2024) on his first state visit to Germany since taking office last month.

The Labour leader has made it a priority to rebuild trust with his European allies after Brexit and the tensions caused by his Conservative predecessors.

Starmer is scheduled to meet German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz in Berlin before continuing his tour to Paris.

He will discuss with Schultz a new agreement that they hope will generate an unprecedented degree of bilateral military cooperation, as well as greater cooperation in areas such as trade and energy.

The Labour Party, which won the general election on July 4 by a large margin, has stepped up its campaign to sign a defence and security treaty with Germany if it wins at the ballot box.

Starmer’s team said the new bilateral agreement would take several months to negotiate and should be completed early next year.

Downing Street said the aims of the agreement were to boost business and trade, deepen defence and security cooperation and enhance “joint action against illegal migration”.

Turn the Page on Brexit

Starmer will defend this, according to his office, saying: “We must turn the page on Brexit and repair the broken relationships left by the previous government.”

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset our relationship with Europe,” he added in a statement.

The British leader will insist it is “important” to strengthen ties with Germany and France “not only to combat the global problem of illegal immigration, but also to boost economic growth”.

Starmer, 61, campaigned for Britain to remain in the European Union during the 2016 Brexit referendum, although he now rules out returning to the bloc to avoid reopening a divisive issue in British politics.

However, he calls for renegotiating a new security agreement with the EU and improving the current trade agreement with the 27 countries.

GC (AFP, Reuters)