If the British prime minister wants a closer relationship with the EU, he needs to go to Brussels, not just Berlin and Paris
Earlier this week, Keir Starmer did a totally standard thing. The newly elected British prime minister made a visit to one of the UK’s biggest neighbours, Germany, which also happens to be a Nato ally. He then went on to France. In a normal world, this in itself would not be considered remarkable – but nothing should be considered normal in the post-Brexit times we live in.
During the Brexit negotiations, the relationship between the UK and Germany sank to a very low ebb. Conservative ministers made it clear with their public statements that diplomatic etiquette and basic politeness towards international partners were less of a priority than impressing their domestic tabloid press with anti-European rhetoric. Those days are thankfully behind us, but it still took Starmer’s predecessor, Rishi Sunak, a year and a half to make it to Berlin, an omission that did not go unnoticed among German officials and caused more than a little pique.
Helene von Bismarck is a Hamburg-based historian specialising in UK-German relations
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/30/starmers-berlin-trip-was-a-real-success-but-lets-not-confuse-germany-with-the-eu
Author : Helene von Bismarck
Publish date : 2024-08-30 06:00:03
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