As part of his visit to Germany, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will discuss a major economic and defense deal with Berlin and expects the trip will allow him to "restart" of relations with Europe, reports Reuters, quoted by Focus.
Starmer begins a two-day visit to France and Germany on August 28. The UK prime minister has said he wants to put behind him the difficult period in relations with the EU, when the Conservative Party was in power in London, and through improved cooperation to promote economic growth in the UK.
"We need to put Brexit behind us and rebuild the broken relationships that the previous government left us. "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restore our relationship with Europe," commented Starmer.
He is scheduled to arrive first in Berlin, where he will hold talks with Olaf Scholz about a major agreement that could lead to an "unprecedented level of bilateral military cooperation," as well as deepening cooperation in areas such as trade and energy.
The Defense Partnership Agreement may be reminiscent of the one with Paris reached at Lancaster House in 2010. Negotiations will continue for approximately the next six months, with the goal of finalizing the agreement in early 2025 and signing a joint declaration in the summer of that year.
As part of the trip, Starmer will also meet the director of defense giant Rheinmetall, Armin Paperger, as well as the head of Siemens Energy, which employs thousands of Britons, to discuss possible investment and the creation of high-skilled jobs.
/p>
From Germany, Starmer will travel to Paris on Wednesday night, where he will attend the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games and begin Thursday morning with a meeting with the heads of French defense industry companies.
Also this week, Keir Starmer said it would take a long time for Britain to "recover" from the previous government and warned that "things will get worse before they get better".