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.