The UK has this week signed a Joint Declaration with Germany to ensure closer future cooperation on issues such as foreign and security policy.
UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, co-signed the declaration with his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, on Wednesday [June 30].
Germany is the UK’s second biggest trading partner and both countries have a history of close cooperation on foreign and security policy issues on a bilateral basis and through multinational organisations such as NATO, the UN and the G7.
The declaration outlines shared British and German positions on global issues such as climate change, relations with China, the state of affairs in the Indo-Pacific region, and a range of other shared values.
Raab commented: “Germany is an essential ally and together we are tackling global issues from climate change to humanitarian crises. The Joint Declaration will strengthen our bilateral co-operation on foreign and security policy for years to come.”
The agreement is the first of its kind to be made between the UK and Germany covering matters of foreign and security policy, and the signage came ahead of the official visit of Germany chancellor Angela Merkel to the UK on Friday [July 2].
Within the Joint Declaration, both nations expressed a common interest in strengthening cooperation on humanitarian affairs to better address crisis situations and pledged both countries to partake in an annual strategic dialogue to ensure “a high level of cooperation and coordination on all matters of foreign policy”.
