Paul Kirby
European Digital Editor
Jeff Over/BBC
Friedrich Merz met President Donald Trump three times since becoming prime minister in early May.
German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz has accepted accusations that Europe is too little to fund its own defense and security, but now believes they are on the same page.
“We know we have to do more ourselves and have been freeriders in the past,” he told the BBC’s today program.
Merz was in the UK to enhance defensive ties with Germany as part of a historic Friendship Treaty aimed at tackling irregular migration and promoting young people’s interactions.
Russia’s war with Ukraine framed the early weeks of his prime ministerial faction, similar to President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 30% import duties on European Union exports from August 1.
Meltz told Nick Robinson that he has now met Trump three times as prime minister in his first broadcast interview with Britain, who said, “I think President Trump is on the same page. We’re trying to end this war.”
“We call once a week. We coordinate our efforts. One issue is the war in Ukraine, and the second is trade debate and tariffs.”
Merz is a Ukrainian vocal supporter on the campaign trail and visited Kiev before winning the German central right Christian Democrats in the February election.
Four days after he was sworn in early May, he was on the train to Kiev on a show of solidarity between Prime Minister Kiel Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We see a big threat, and the threat is Russia. And this threat is not just Ukraine. It lies in our peace, our freedom, the political order of Europe,” he warned.
In the preparations for the German election, US Vice President JD Vance shocked the audience at a security conference in Munich with a list of accusations against European allies, including the UK.
Looking back on this statement, Mertz said the government “had to extract our results from that.” In other words, the message from Vance’s “very openness” was heard loudly and clearly.
Jeff Over/BBC
Meltz spoke with BBC’s Nick Robinson in his first British broadcast interview as Prime Minister
Canaan Atilgan of London’s Conrad Adenauer Foundation, which is closely affiliated with the Meltz party, believes it had a major influence on the next prime minister.
Even before he was sworn in, the Prime Minister managed to overcome changes in the German constitution, allowing for a significant increase in defence spending.
“We’re not strong enough. The military isn’t strong enough, so that’s why we spend a lot of money,” he said in an interview with the BBC.
Together, Britain, Germany and France are working on a triangular alliance of major European powers called E3. Mertz says it will focus on economic growth as well as security and foreign policy.
The Prime Minister said he is now “very close to Kiel’s Stoll” and is also the president of France. Macron is scheduled to visit him in Berlin next week.
The French leader signed a broad treaty with Germany in Achen in 2019, and last week agreed to a deeper defence agreement during a national visit to the UK, so the British-German Friendship Treaty completed the triangle of bilateral relations.
Sitting in the luxurious setting of the German embassy, Friedrich Merz headed to the Victoria and the Albert Museum to sign an agreement with the Prime Minister.
EPA
The two leaders signed the treaty at the Victoria and Albert Museum, about a mile from the German Embassy
Meltz said the bilateral treaty renewed the commitment of the two allies to protect each other – this was not part of the NATO treaty, but also part of the alliance when Britain was in the EU.
British and German companies have already cooperated in producing products such as typhoon Eurofighter Jet and Boxer Armored Vehicles, and the two governments have agreed to launch a joint export campaign that Downing Street believes can attract billions of pounds.
They also developed missiles in a range of 2,000km (1,250 miles), and the prime minister later told a press conference that Ukraine would soon receive considerable additional support in the “long-range fire.”
The 69-year-old Mertz is considered a strong believer in the Transatlantic Alliance and has known the United States since his years outside of politics, working for an American investment company.
However, on the night of his election victory, he declared that the Trump administration was “almost indifferent to the fate of Europe.” This is seen as non-diplomatic for the then Prime Minister.
When asked if he had changed his mind, he said that Trump was “not clear and as devoted as the former US president, so the former US administration was.”
He observed that the Americans were heading away from Europe and towards Asia. That’s why it was important to see greater independence from America’s defense.
The UK is largely evading turbulence exporting the tumultuous turbulence over US tariffs, but the European Union faces a deadline within two weeks and faces a 30% tariff threat on all goods.
EU trade negotiator Maroššhefčovič traveled to Washington this week to seek transactions that would spare all 27 member states from a surge in US import taxes.
Merz deems high tariffs unacceptable and kills German export industry.
“My observation is that the president himself is seeing the challenge and he is willing to reach an agreement. He gets it.”
Another important element of the UK German Treaty is the Berlin agreement to change the law to criminalize smugglers who store small boats in Germany for use at illegal channel intersections. The storage of German boats was revealed last year by a BBC investigation.
The Prime Minister said his government will “do our homework soon,” and expected it not to take long to push Congress after a summer break.
There are also plans to take part in the direct railway links from London to Berlin, as well as the exchanges that UK and German students have declined since Brexit.
Meltz said he hopes that the first people who might see practical differences with the Friendship Treaty will become students.
