Germany and the United Kingdom, the two European countries that provide the most help to Ukraine in its defense against the Russian invasion, have agreed this Wednesday to strengthen their defense cooperation to help the Kiev army for as long as necessary and develop together a series of military projects, such as a new armored fighting vehicle or the European air defense initiative Sky Shield.
“We have assumed more responsibility for our common security and today we are going even further. “We are opening a new chapter in the security relationship between our two countries,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on his first official visit to Berlin since he took office a year and a half ago.
Sunak explained that the objective is to create “a new framework” for cooperation between the two countries in defense matters and “achieve an immediate expansion” in industrial cooperation to, for example, “jointly acquire, evaluate and optimize” the armored vehicle remote RCH 155. The announcement of this project is an indication that the United Kingdom seeks to once again strengthen cooperation with its European partners, after Brexit also marked a sudden break in defense cooperation.
The largest joint project underway is the production of the Boxer armored vehicle, developed by a German defense company and of which more than 600 units are manufactured for the British Army. It will also continue to be developed, just as the Eurofighter will continue to be promoted and the two parties want to help each other with exports of the combat aircraft. “Both our countries, Germany and the United Kingdom, make important contributions to Europe’s defense industrial base, and we want to continue strengthening and expanding it,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The two leaders know each other well from their time together as Finance Ministers. However, the British Prime Minister took longer than expected to visit the German capital. The two leaders appeared at the Berlin Chancellery with a single clear message: the war in Ukraine changed the game board and the increase in defense is an absolute priority regardless of who governs in the United States.
More defense spending
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Along these lines, Sunak announced the day before during his visit to Warsaw that he will increase defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2030, which will mean spending around 90 billion euros annually by the end of the decade. . Meanwhile, Germany will meet this year for the first time since 1992 the defense spending target of 2% of GDP set by NATO, a real challenge to close its budgets for next year.
“Every government has to prioritize,” explained Sunak, who denied that this increase in spending is to the detriment of other items and explained that it is possible thanks to the recovery of the economy. “Defence is a priority for me, a priority for the Government and it is the right priority for the country. If someone says it’s wrong, let them explain why, because it’s very clear to me. The international environment has changed,” he added.
The British Prime Minister arrived in Berlin embroiled in controversy over his plan to expel migrants to Rwanda, finally approved by the British Parliament this week. However, he did not want to go into many evaluations and limited himself to remembering that this is a common challenge throughout the European continent. “All over the world we have to try to stop these migratory flows. “Everyone is doing it in their own way.” For his part, Scholz highlighted that work is being done in Germany to streamline the management of irregular migration.
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