UK, Germany vow to tackle people smuggling gangs

LONDON: Britain and Germany signed landmark deals on Thursday to boost defence ties and crackdown on people smuggling gangs on the first official visit to the UK by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Merz had agreed to change German law this year so that small boats used to transport migrants across the English Channel can be seized in Germany.

“It´s a clear sign that we mean business in every way,” the British premier told reporters. Berlin, though, has yet to confirm when the legislation will be introduced.

Merz´s trip came a week after undocumented migrants topped the political agenda during a state visit to Britain by French President Emmanuel Macron. Merz said he would host Macron in Germany next week. Starmer and his German counterpart signed the first ever “friendship treaty” between their countries at London´s Victoria and Albert Museum, named after Queen Victoria and her German-born husband, before holding talks at the PM´s Downing Street office.