Latest news with #KensingtonTreaty
Chicago Tribune
6 hours ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Germany is stepping up in European leadership
News regarding Europe is preoccupied with the Ukraine war and the latest Washington surprises, but other developments are important. Among the most important is the positive, effective leadership role of Germany. On July 17, the Kensington Treaty was signed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. The new treaty deepens cooperation in defense, migration, trade and other matters. Merz also called for greatly increased cooperation between the two nations and France. This is a complement to the new Anglo-French agreement to coordinate nuclear weapons strategy. Historically, Britain has been closely tied to the United States in that regard. Historically as well, France was distinctive for the pursuit of policies independent of Washington regarding nuclear weapons and other matters. Conflict reached a height of intensity during the Kennedy administration, when an assertive American president figuratively collided directly with imperious President Charles de Gaulle of France. Recent years have brought steady, low-key reconciliation across the Atlantic. In 2009, France rejoined NATO after dramatically rejecting the organization, and forcing NATO headquarters out of Paris, in 1966. Chancellor Merz also scored a diplomatic success with his visit to President Donald Trump at the White House on June 5. In contrast to the disastrous meeting between embattled President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Trump, the session with Merz was calm, friendly and productive. Given the volatile nature of the U.S. leader, this is a well-deserved tribute to the interpersonal skill, personal discipline and human insight of Germany's head of government. In very concrete terms, Germany is demonstrating leadership of Europe and the larger Atlantic area alliance in creating the path to greater defense spending. This expands support of Ukraine in the continuing brutal war with Russia. Germany's defense spending is projected to rise from 95 billion euros in fiscal 2025 to 162 billion euros in fiscal 2029. Trump suggested sending Patriot missile defense systems to Germany so that the systems already in that nation's possession could be forwarded to Ukraine. This is significant given the U.S. leader's past negative words about NATO. Generally at least, Germany leading the way in increasing defense spending, joined by other members of the alliance, helps U.S. companies and therefore our own economy. A total of 63% of Europe's weapons and related military needs are supplied by U.S. defense companies. Where corporate profits and the business bottom line in military matters are concerned, the concept of differences between the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean is blurred. The belief that the U.S. is being taken advantage of by European nations is a prominent theme of the Trump administration. Actually, complaints about European allies failing to spend more on defense date back to debate over goals established in 1952 at a conference in Lisbon Portugal. Yet, during the Cold War, 300,000 U.S. forces in Europe were supported by host governments. Most fundamentally, Germany's success and positive leadership today indicate Europe overall has moved beyond the ideologies that were so destructive in the 20th century. `Communism took root in Imperial Russia, aided by Germany, and succeeded thanks to the enormous costs of World War I and the chaotic aftermath. Threat of communism, along with awful economic misery, spawned fascism and Nazism, and World War II. Finally, the advance of communism helped generate the Cold War. Dedication and discipline of earlier U.S. leaders were crucial to ultimate victory in the World Wars and the Cold War. Democratic Germany is a particularly important consequence.
Russia Today
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Two bald men fighting over a comb: The UK–Germany ‘alliance'
Only a complete imbecile would trust the British as allies. History offers no example of London taking serious risks for the sake of partnership. On the contrary, Britain's favorite geopolitical sport has long been to encourage continental states to exhaust themselves in battles with stronger adversaries – only for the UK to later emerge as the diplomatic victor. Throwing allies under the bus is tradition, not exception. Which is why it's safe to assume that the German government is fully aware the so-called Kensington Treaty – signed with the UK on July 17, 2025 – is not a serious agreement. There are several reasons for this. First, both countries are NATO members, and only the United States enjoys the freedom to bend bloc rules. Second, neither Britain nor Germany possesses the military resources or political will to rebuild a meaningful defense posture. And third, there's no one for them to fight – at least not credibly. This odd little treaty capped off what was already a turbulent week in global affairs. It began with contradictory statements from US President Donald Trump about Ukraine and ended with yet another Israeli airstrike – this time targeting Syria, where the new regime is battling internal unrest. Amid such chaos, the Berlin-London accord adds the perfect dash of absurdity: a ceremonial nod to 'unity' that distracts from the West's deepening dysfunction. The British and German leaders say their pact covers everything from defense cooperation to environmental policy. In reality, it's a political pantomime. Unlike the raw aggression of Israel or the economic ultimatums coming from Washington, this is Western Europe's softer contribution to the week's geopolitical theatre – a performance full of noise but void of substance. Consider the Israeli strikes on Syria, a continuation of Tel Aviv's self-declared role as 'sheriff of the Middle East.' Israel's foreign policy, once bound by red lines, now seems guided only by brute impulse. Whether such a strategy is sustainable remains to be seen, but its message is clear – and chilling. Then there's President Trump. His recent comments on Russia and the Ukraine conflict suggest a new American approach: shift the entire burden of confronting Moscow onto European allies. The scale of those expected 'costs' is still unknown, but the confusion in European capitals was immediate. Trump's remarks left the EU's biggest players looking disoriented, scrambling to understand what Washington actually expects. For months now, the Western Europeans have played the role of geopolitical extras – sitting through summits, issuing statements, and floating vague proposals like a 'peacekeeping force' for Ukraine. The idea is laughable. Moscow would never allow it, and everyone knows it. Yet these leaders continue to perform, hoping performance alone will pass for policy. Now Trump has called their bluff. He wants cash, troops, commitment. NATO's new Secretary General Mark Rutte – now reborn as an American loyalist – welcomed the idea enthusiastically. But key European capitals balked. France, Italy, and the Czech Republic refused to participate in the new American initiative. France, despite loud rhetoric, has provided only token military aid to Kiev – ten times less than Germany. Italy has given even fewer crumbs. So what do Western Europe's 'leading powers' do instead? They stage a show. Enter the Kensington Treaty. Its breadth is comical: a proposed direct rail link between London and Berlin 'to improve defense capabilities,' plans for school tourism, joint forums on business, and German investment in Britain to create about 600 jobs. This is not geopolitics; it's domestic public relations dressed up as diplomacy. But the core problem runs deeper. For decades now, Western Europe has struggled with a contradiction it cannot resolve. On the one hand, its politicians recognize the need to appear decisive in security matters. On the other, they know that real military action – especially against Russia – is a fantasy. There is no scenario where they could win. So they gesture, but never act. After the launch of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, this tension briefly gave these Western European leaders a sense of purpose. They could speak boldly, posture grandly. But in the three years since, not much has changed. Despite grand declarations and strategy papers, the bloc has failed to meaningfully expand its defense capacity. At most, they might manage to recruit a few thousand mercenaries from impoverished Balkan states to send to the front. Even this is unlikely. Any serious move toward independent military power in Western Europe will immediately trigger scrutiny from Washington. The United States has no intention of allowing its trans-Atlantic partners to act unilaterally – no matter how often it demands they 'do more.' When Trump says the bloc must rearm, he means it should buy American weapons. Not build its own industry, not forge its own path. Just consume US exports. This explains why the supposed 'militarization' of Germany has sparked so much talk but so little change. It isn't about Berlin becoming a threat – it's about Berlin spending more on F-35s. Western Europe remains dependent, constrained, and cautious. Yes, it can still cause harm to Russia in limited ways. But the image its politicians sell to their voters – that of a bold, united, and prepared half-continent – is an illusion. The new Anglo-German treaty is just the latest act in this tragicomic performance. It makes no military sense, no diplomatic sense, and no strategic sense. But it makes perfect political sense – for a Western Europe that is drifting, divided, and desperate to look busy while doing nothing at article was first published by Vzglyad newspaper and was translated and edited by the RT team.
Spectator
4 days ago
- Business
- Spectator
Germany has become a useful ally for Britain
Yesterday the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited London for the first time since he took office in May. He and the prime minister have met on a number of occasions, and although the two lawyers are different characters – Sir Keir Starmer, the stiff, soi disant progressive human rights barrister; Merz, the abrasive, hard-nosed corporate counsel – they have forged a functional relationship. But this was Merz on Starmer's home ground. The government has put a great deal of effort into bespoke bilateral relationships. Defence secretary John Healey and the German defence minister Boris Pistorius signed the Trinity House Agreement last October, and there have also been various kinds of arrangements put in place with Estonia, Ukraine, Norway, Qatar and France, as well as the outline of a trade agreement with the United States. This week, Starmer built on the Trinity House Agreement to agree to a treaty with Germany on friendship and bilateral cooperation; this has been dubbed, as if Downing Street were sweeping a Monopoly board, the 'Kensington Treaty'. It is the first bilateral treaty the UK and Germany have concluded since the second world war, and it covers a broad range of policy areas: diplomacy, security and development, defence cooperation, internal security, justice and migration, economic growth, resilience and competitiveness, open and resilient societies, and climate, energy, nature, environment and agriculture. Given the current geopolitical situation, the defence provisions have received particular attention, and it is worth trying to unpick the details. I've been to enough international assemblies to recognise the florid, padded language of diplomacy, but it is fair to say that the Kensington Treaty would have benefited from a good but firm editor. It adds very little to the sum of human knowledge or happiness to declare that the UK and Germany are 'inspired by a common will to address the momentous new challenges to Euro-Atlantic security' or that they are 'reaffirming their ironclad commitment to the Transatlantic Alliance as the bedrock of their security, based on shared values'. Peeling away the ambient verbiage, however, there are some concrete measures. Both parties will improve their 'military interoperability, interchangeability and integration', meaning that they will be more closely aligned in equipment, doctrine and methodology; these are important considerations when contemplating fighting as part of a multinational coalition. There is also a commitment to closer industrial cooperation, again partly reflecting the fact that many of our most significant military platforms are now multinational: Eurofighter Typhoon, the F-35 Lightning, the Airbus Voyager tanker aircraft and A400M transports, the Boxer and Ajax armoured fighting vehicles, the RCH 155 self-propelled howitzer, the New Medium Helicopter programme. Britain and Germany will also continue jointly to develop a new deep precision strike missile and work on uncrewed aerial systems. It is interesting that the treaty also contains a provision for the UK and Germany to work more closely on defence exports through the UK-Germany Defence Industry Forum. Under the treaty, the UK will join Germany, France and Spain in the agreement on defence export controls first established in September 2021, which will align the export control regimes of all four countries. With this in place, the UK and Germany can undertake shared procurement and export promotion in the hope of increasing sales of platforms like the Typhoon, the A400M and Boxer while also making efficiency savings through streamlining sales processes. There may be new customers for the Typhoon in the Middle East and Asia, which could be critical for UK industry; BAE Systems Warton recently completed the last Typhoon on its order books, and there is a danger of loss of skills and capability if new buyers are not found. For the UK, Germany may be a very useful ally in these areas at the moment. While the government in London has still not set out any robust targets for increasing defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035, a target agreed at the Nato summit in the Hague last month, Germany is going all in. Berlin will borrow €400 billion (£347 billion) over the next five years, in which time it intends to spend €649 billion (£563 billion) overall on defence, reaching 3.5 per cent of GDP on core military expenditure by 2029. Currently, the UK cannot dream of matching that largesse. The current defence budget is 2.6 per cent of GDP if the intelligence agencies are included and will still not reach £80 billion a year by 2027/28. Ministers cannot even give any certainty or timeframe for reaching three per cent of GDP. Perhaps a rising tide really does lift all boats. If the UK can partner with the free-spending Germans to sell more military equipment built wholly or partially in Britain, that can only be good. Nevertheless, with the Kensington Treaty now in place, Starmer and his government must make sure that we keep pace with our allies and do not find ourselves financially embarrassed. A great deal of talk has been talked on defence: now we need to look very closely at the walking.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Missiles, mutual aid, and a drone factory: UK and Germany sign historic defence treaty with eye on Russia and Trump's NATO drift
The UK and Germany have signed their first bilateral treaty since the Second World War, signalling a renewed alliance focused on European defence. The Kensington Treaty , inked in London by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz , comes at a time of mounting pressure in Europe due to Russia's war in Ukraine and doubts over future US involvement in NATO . At its core, the treaty pledges mutual assistance in the event of an armed attack. Both nations already fall under NATO's Article 5 protection, but this move adds a bilateral layer of assurance. It also cements collaboration on defence production and military technology. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Finance MCA Digital Marketing Data Analytics Cybersecurity MBA Technology others Operations Management Management Degree Public Policy CXO Project Management Others Leadership Design Thinking Artificial Intelligence Data Science PGDM healthcare Data Science Product Management Healthcare Skills you'll gain: Duration: 7 Months S P Jain Institute of Management and Research CERT-SPJIMR Fintech & Blockchain India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 9 Months IIM Calcutta SEPO - IIMC CFO India Starts on undefined Get Details 'We see the scale of the challenges our continent faces today, and we intend to meet them head on,' said Starmer at a joint press conference held at an Airbus facility in Stevenage. Merz described the occasion as 'a historic day for German-British relations,' adding, 'We want to work together more closely, particularly after the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union . It is overdue for us to conclude such a treaty with each other.' Defence ties beyond NATO The treaty lays out a broad defence agenda. It commits both sides to joint export campaigns for weapons systems such as Typhoon fighter jets and Boxer armoured vehicles, with plans to develop a new long-range precision missile over the next decade. German drone manufacturer Stark will also open a production site in the UK to aid Ukraine's defence effort. Live Events Importantly, the treaty includes a shared commitment to 'assist one another, including by military means, in case of an armed attack on the other,' although the practical significance remains to be seen given NATO's overlapping obligations. Merz was clear about the treaty's central theme. 'Defence is the thread running through the treaty,' he said after the signing ceremony at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Building a united European response Both Starmer and Merz placed the treaty within a broader European context, especially after French President Emmanuel Macron's recent visit to the UK. There, France and Britain agreed for the first time to coordinate their nuclear deterrents. Germany, which does not have nuclear weapons, will instead maintain 'a close dialogue on defence issues of mutual interest … including on nuclear issues,' according to the treaty. Merz said, 'The E3 – Great Britain, France and Germany – are converging in their positions on foreign policy, on security policy, on migration policy, but also on economic policy issues.' He made it clear that his trip to London just one week after Macron's was no accident. 'It was no coincidence,' he said. 'We are really on the way to a new chapter.' Ukraine and the 'coalition of the willing' As Ukraine remains under siege, the UK, Germany and France are leading efforts to maintain support for Kyiv. Trump's proposal to sell US weapons to NATO allies, who would then deliver them to Ukraine, was discussed at the meeting. Merz said the arrangement was still being ironed out, and that it could take 'days, perhaps weeks' before weapons reach the front line. He stressed the need for a replacement plan from Washington, saying, 'Above all, we need clarity on how weapons systems that are given up from the European side will be replaced by the US.' Starmer pointed to the need for diplomatic groundwork as well. 'The first step is to get [Russian President] Vladimir Putin to the table for an unconditional ceasefire,' he said, according to the BBC. The leaders also discussed the idea of a peacekeeping force, should a future ceasefire take hold. Talks under the so-called 'coalition of the willing' have already begun, involving the UK, France, and Germany. Migration measures gain legal teeth Alongside security matters, the treaty aims to strengthen efforts to stop illegal migration. In 2024, over 37,000 people crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats. More than 22,000 have arrived so far this year. Starmer said the treaty showed the UK and Germany 'mean business' when it comes to disrupting the criminal gangs behind these crossings. He also praised Berlin's promise to amend German law by year-end, making it a criminal offence to assist migrant smuggling to Britain. 'We've discussed this at great length,' Starmer said. '[The chancellor] is now going to change the law so that we can intervene.' Merz confirmed the plan and added, 'We want to drastically reduce illegal migration in Europe. We are on a good path, but we haven't reached the target yet.' A three-way push with France Merz proposed building on existing Franco-British migration deals to create a three-way returns agreement. '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,' he said through a translator. The idea mirrors long-standing German ambitions for a strategic axis of leading European powers. Merz's predecessor and political mentor, Wolfgang Schäuble, had once envisioned a 'core Europe' driven by Berlin and Paris. Now, Britain has re-entered the fold, albeit outside the EU. Despite expressing his disapproval of Brexit, Merz acknowledged the reality. 'I personally deplore this deeply,' he said. 'But we are now learning that it's not enough, so we have to do more.' Ties beyond defence The Kensington Treaty doesn't just deal in weapons and laws. It includes agreements to expand cultural and educational exchanges, create a joint rail taskforce, and allow UK passport holders to use German e-gates. Merz welcomed a more flexible system for young people. 'I am glad we were able to reach an agreement so that schoolchildren and students can come to Britain more easily in the future, and the other way round can come to Germany more easily.' Though Starmer has ruled out rejoining the EU's single market or customs union, the treaty reflects his effort to mend fences after years of Brexit-inflicted strain. As both countries prepare to raise defence spending to 3.5 percent of GDP, the Kensington Treaty signals something broader than just military planning. It shows a deliberate shift towards European-led action, just as the ground under the old alliances begins to shift. And for both leaders, it marks the beginning of a new political chapter. 'We had you in the European Union and we thought that was enough,' Merz said. 'But we are now learning that it's not enough, so we have to do more.' (with inputs from AP, Reuters) Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Britain, Germany sign defense, migration treaty
July 17 (UPI) -- Britain and Germany signed a treaty Thursday to stand together on defense and migration, among other matters. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met Thursday and held a joint press conference in London to discuss what has been dubbed the 'Kensington Treaty,' a 30-article document that promises cooperation on several aspects. 'I'm working with Germany to deliver results for British people,' Starmer posted to X Thursday. Merz also posted online, and wrote that the treaty marks 'a historic day for German-British relations.' A specific focus of the accord is on defense, as the document identifies 'the Russian Federation's brutal war of aggression on the European continent as the most significant and direct threat to their security.' Both nations reaffirmed their commitment to NATO, but the treaty declared that the two would 'pursue deep exchanges on strategic aspects of security policy,' and shall 'increase cooperation on intelligence and national security capabilities in order to contribute effectively to this goal.' Another facet of the pact deals with migration issues, in which the United Kingdom and Germany will lock in an annual 'Home Affairs dialogue at senior official level' which would deal with crimes related to 'migrant smuggling and border security.' 'Germany has committed to change their law so we can disrupt the supply of small boats,' Starmer also noted on social media Thursday. 'We will smash the people smuggling gangs and secure our borders.' According to the treaty, both countries 'will support the provision of mutual legal assistance and the prosecution of offenders involved in the smuggling of migrants into and between the two countries.' The document also commits that the two nations will expand on this bilateral bond by seeking 'to intensify the trilateral cooperation with the French Republic, as well as their cooperation with other partners, and within multilateral formats such as the G7 and the United Nations, in order to jointly address international challenges.' Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
