Starmer, Scholz seek reset in British-EU ties with bilateral treaty

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00:00Jorg, this security and defense treaty, obviously big on Starmer's agenda.

00:04How do the talks seem to go with Schultz today?

00:08They seem to like each other personally.

00:16That was very obvious the way, just from their body language, kind of.

00:20And of course, they're belonging both to, one is the Labour Party, one is Social Democrats

00:24belong to the same kind of political home.

00:28And Olaf Schultz said, even though UK is no longer part of the EU, we are still friends.

00:36And Steve Kramer kept saying this was a new treaty.

00:40We want to renew a friendship and a new area of British German relations.

00:46Well, Prime Minister Starmer himself actually gave some remarks about that security and

00:52defense treaty from Berlin after that meeting.

00:56Let's take a listen to Starmer here.

01:00A new UK-Germany treaty, a once in a generation chance to deliver for working people in Britain

01:09and in Germany.

01:11This treaty is part of a wider reset grounded in a new spirit of cooperation with our shared

01:20understanding that this will be developed at pace and that we hope to have agreed it

01:27by the end of the year.

01:28So, Jörg, Starmer, of course, heads to Paris next to where he'll be attending the Paralympic

01:35ceremony.

01:36He'll be meeting President Emmanuel Macron there, as well the two major powers of Europe,

01:42Germany and France.

01:44seeking this reset in relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

01:50What do you think his next move will be and how are his odds looking for that sort of

01:54a reset?

01:55Well, I think it was important that they talked about what we have in common, Germans and

02:05Great Britain.

02:06So they were talking about a new defense agreement.

02:10They were both saying the support to Ukraine.

02:13They were, of course, talking about fighting illegal immigration.

02:17So Starmer said first that he gave his condolences for the terrible attack here in Solingen a

02:24couple of days ago.

02:27So they also talked about Israel.

02:29It was interesting that when Schultz talked about Israel, he said Israel has to do more

02:36for civilians and for all the people who try to aid the humanitarian crisis.

02:41And Starmer, for example, said one needs a Palestinian state and we need a ceasefire

02:47and, of course, the liberation of all hostages.

02:49So that was quite a little bit different what they each said, but they actually agreed on

02:55about everything they were addressed to, especially on the Ukraine and still aiding the Ukraine

03:02as long as it takes.

03:03All right.

03:04Francisco, for our correspondent, Jorg Tasman in Cologne, thanks very much for that analysis.

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