UK, Germany to launch security partnership against hybrid threats

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will travel to Berlin on Thursday for his first face-to-face meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The pair are launching a new UK-Germany joint security partnership to counter sabotage, cyberattacks and other hybrid threats from adversaries, especially Russia.

The joint partnership will involve sharing information and co-ordinating action to monitor, deter and disrupt threats and to develop resilience against threats to critical infrastructure.

Burnham and Merz will also discuss support for Ukraine, responding to instability in the Middle East and addressing the impact of disruption to global trade routes, such as the Strait of Hormuz.

The two leaders will also convene a UK-Germany Regional Growth Forum, bringing together British and German chief executives, focused on unlocking investment, strengthening industrial partnership and ensuring that the benefits of growth are felt in communities across both countries.

The Kensington Treaty, signed in July last year, will be formally ratified on Thursday, committing the two countries to deeper co-operation on science, technology, defence, security and growth.

Ahead of the visit, Burnham said: “Attacks on our infrastructure, our businesses and our democracies are not a distant threat.”

“They reach into people’s homes and workplaces, and they are designed to make us weaker and more divided.”

“Britain and Germany are joining forces to find, expose and disrupt this activity.”

“Security and growth go hand in hand, and both must be felt in every town and city in our two countries.”