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GERMANY AND THE UK

UK Prime Minister Starmer promises Brexit ‘reset’ on Germany trip

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on a visit to Berlin Wednesday that a planned new treaty with Germany was part of his nation's push to mend EU ties damaged by Brexit.

Published: 28 August 2024 08:20 CEST
Updated: 28 August 2024 15:57 CEST

UK Prime Minister Starmer promises Brexit 'reset' on Germany trip

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer shake hands after a joint press conference following bilateral talks at the Chancellery in Berlin on August 28, 2024. Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP

The move toward a reset, welcomed by German leader Olaf Scholz, will also include the British premier travelling to Paris for talks with President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.

Starmer said the proposed accord, set to include a defence agreement and deeper links on science, technology as well as trade, was hoped to be agreed by year’s end.

The British premier called the planned treaty a “once in a generation chance” to aid a “wider reset” in UK-EU ties.

Scholz welcomed his UK counterpart’s desire for a “reset”, adding: “We want to accept this outstretched hand.”

Labour had said it would seek a security and defence treaty with Germany if it won the July 4 general election, which it did by a landslide – propelling Starmer to the premiership.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Jill Gallard, British Ambassador to Germany, walk near the Brandenburger Gate in Berlin on August 27th. Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / POOL / AFP

Starmer’s host Scholz has been under pressure to crack down on illegal migration after a suspected Islamist knife attack in the western city of Solingen on Friday.

The stabbing, which left three people dead and eight injured, was allegedly carried out by a 26-year-old Syrian man who evaded attempts by German authorities to deport him.

Starmer’s premiership has faced an early challenge after a deadly knife attack in Southport last month sparked anti-immigration riots, which officials say were stoked by far-right elements and false information.

Starmer said that he and Scholz had “agreed to develop a joint action plan to tackle illegal migration” and “smash the smuggler gangs who perpetrate this vile trade”.

Ukraine aid issue

The pair also discussed the war in Ukraine, with both countries under pressure over their aid for Kyiv to help it fight off Russia’s invasion.

Scholz insisted that both countries “stand firm at Ukraine’s side”, despite “recent attempts to sow doubt about this commitment”.

“Our resolve is as ever to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine to provide the support that it needs for as long as it needs,” Starmer added.

Kyiv’s Western allies have reacted cautiously to Ukraine’s recent incursion into Kursk, worried that their weapons could be used on Russian soil, possibly sparking a strong reaction from Moscow.

Britain allows Kyiv to deploy a squadron of 14 British-made Challenger 2 tanks as it sees fit, but has put limits on the use of its long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

Starmer said Wednesday that “no new decisions have been taken” in terms relating to tactical questions on the use of weapons.

Germany has repeatedly refused to send Kyiv its long-range Taurus missiles, over fears of escalating the conflict.

Germany has been the second-largest contributor of aid to Ukraine after the United States, but plans to halve the budget for that aid next year.

Where Germany spent around eight billion euros ($9 billion) on aid for Ukraine in 2024, the latest draft earmarks around four billion euros.

UK-Germany security pact

At a European Political Community (EPC) summit in England two weeks after his election win, Starmer told European leaders the UK would be a “friend and partner” to them.

Starmer has ruled out rejoining the European single market, customs union or freedom of movement — to avoid reopening what remains a thorny issue among British politicians and the public alike.

But he does want to negotiate a new security pact with the bloc and a veterinary agreement to ease border checks on agricultural foods, as well as an improved trading deal.

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Thousands of jobs have already been lost in the region, where wind farms now rise near abandoned open-pit mines and many people look with dread towards 2038, the deadline for the “coal exit”.

Their fears help explain the strong local support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which does not just rail against migrants but also rejects the green energy push and questions man-made climate change.

At local elections held in Spremberg in June, the AfD scored 39.3 percent – an omen ahead of regional elections next Sunday in the state of Brandenburg, which polls suggest it could win.

Lignite, or brown coal, may be a climate killer, but since the 19th century it has been key to the identity of the Lusatia industrial region on the Polish border, known as the Lausitz in German.

“Thousands of people here have been linked to coal their whole working lives,” said the town’s mayor, Christine Herntier, an independent who has held the post for a decade.

“We are proud of our tradition,” said Herntier, 67, pointing to a huge map on her office wall of the Schwarze Pumpe plant and its surrounding industrial complex.

Most people in Spremberg, population 25,000, have grudgingly accepted the coal phase-out plan, under which the government has earmarked billions for structural transition plans, she said.

But, she added, ahead of the state election the winding down of coal “is still a big issue”.

‘Anger over wind farm’

Michael Hanko, the AfD’s top representative in Spremberg, said he is certain that the looming demise of the lignite industry is “one of the main reasons” residents are voting for his party.

“I don’t think the government has really got them on board with this whole prescribed transformation, saying that we now have to do everything with renewable energies,” Hanko said.

Michael Hanko, the AfD (Alternative for Germany) top candidate, in Spremberg, eastern Germany on, September 9, 2024. Photo by Femke COLBORNE / AFP

The AfD, founded about a decade ago, scored a triumph earlier this month when it won an election in the eastern state of Thuringia and came a close second in Saxony.

It now also has a good chance of winning in Brandenburg, the state that surrounds Berlin, where it is polling narrowly in first place at around 27 percent.

When the German government decided five years ago to phase out coal, it pledged around €40 billion to help coal regions adapt, with €17 billion for the Lausitz alone.

Much of the money is intended to flow into developing the renewables and hydrogen sectors, helping the region maintain its identity as an energy hub.

But residents complain the investment has been too slow to materialise and is flowing into the wrong places.

In Spremberg, plans to extend a nearby wind park have caused outrage among some locals, who fear it will be a threat to 150-year-old trees, a protected swallow species and drinking water.

‘Something different’

Coal has long been synonymous with the Lausitz region, which takes in parts of Brandenburg and Saxony and a small strip of Poland, and where lignite was discovered in the late 18th century.

But the industry all but collapsed after German reunification in 1990, when most of the region’s open pit mines were shut down and thousands of jobs vanished.

Today, only around 8,000 people are employed in the lignite industry across the Lausitz, with 4,500 of them in Brandenburg, though the industry is still one of the largest private employers in the state and coal remains a strong part of the region’s identity.

Already weary from the problems caused by reunification, people in the region have felt “overwhelmed” by recent global challenges, said Lars Katzmarek, a board member of the Pro-Lausitz campaign group.

Lars Katzmarek, board member of the Pro-Lausitz campaign group. Photo by Femke COLBORNE / AFP

“The coronavirus, the energy crisis, the Ukraine war – these are all very difficult things that people still haven’t fully digested… and perhaps at some point they just close their ears,” he said.

On a rainy morning in Spremberg, Joachim Paschke, 81, who used to work in mechanical engineering and welding, was buying bread rolls in the bakery opposite the town hall.

“I’m definitely not an AfD supporter but I can understand people who are,” he said.

“The established parties have nothing concrete and the AfD is offering something different. People want change.”

By Femke COLBORNE