“We share the same threats,” explained British Defense Minister John Healey during a joint press conference in London, referring in particular to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This agreement “sends a signal to our adversaries: we will deter and defend ourselves against any aggression,” he said.
What is “quadrobics”, this animalistic trend that worries the Russian authorities?
This agreement “is the start of something very precious” and “the projects envisaged in this treaty will above all bring us more security in Europe”, added his German counterpart Boris Pistorius during this press conference.
“Faced with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s policy of division and destruction, we offer something else: solidarity, trust,” he insisted.
London and Berlin have been the two main European countries providing military aid to kyiv since the start of the war in February 2022. The United Kingdom notably supplies long-range missiles to Ukraine, which has refused to do Germany so far.
Dubbed the “Trinity House Agreement”, the agreement signed on Wednesday in the British capital is the first of its type between the United Kingdom and Germany.
He expects the two armies to train together more often to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank.
German P8 aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft used in particular for anti-submarine warfare, will operate “periodically” from the Scottish base of Lossiemouth in order to “contribute” to the protection of the northern coast of the Atlantic.
Industrial cooperation
At the start of the week, Germany inaugurated a new NATO naval command center in the Baltic Sea in Rostock, in order to coordinate the forces of the Alliance member states in the area. It will employ 180 people, including British representatives.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerlock insisted on this occasion on the importance of protecting the main pipelines and submarine cables in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea where ships “that should not be there” sail.
The deal between London and Berlin also sees NATO allies working together to develop long-range strike weapons that can go further than the UK’s existing Storm Shadow missiles.
The United Kingdom announced last week that its country would join a European initiative to develop the manufacture of long-range missiles, alongside Germany, Italy, France and Poland.
The agreement also provides for the opening in the United Kingdom of a new factory of the German Rheinmetall, producing artillery guns from British steel, with the promise of creating more than 400 jobs.
Vladimir Putin assures that the “formation of a multipolar world is underway”
“This agreement charts a path towards deeper industrial cooperation,” defended John Healey, arguing that military cooperation between the two countries remained “underdeveloped”.
It should also represent the first step towards a broader bilateral treaty to be signed next year between Berlin and London.
Defense is the “first pillar of this new and broader treaty of friendship,” John Healey said during the press conference.
Asked whether this bilateral agreement could be a threat to Franco-German defense cooperation, Boris Pistorius replied that it was “the opposite”, assuring that Paris had been “involved” in the discussions which led to the ‘agreement.
In September 2021, Paris suffered a resounding snub with the conclusion of the AUKUS alliance between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, leading Canberra to cancel a mega contract for the acquisition of twelve conventional submarines. French, which would have been built in Australia.
