into the uk for the million into the uk for the development of ai systems. so, this shows the agreement today gives renewed confidence to investors in the uk defence industrial base. finally, just to give this a bigger context. our new government was elected in july to deliver change. before the election, we promised a new defence agreement with germany in six months. we have signed this landmark agreement in less than four months. this is what resetting relations with europe looks like. this is what growing our economy looks like. and this is what a nato first defence strategy looks like. and the agreement today also sends a

signal to our adversaries. we will deter and we will defend against any aggression together. boris, i look forward to working closely with you and putting this agreement into action. to date really is only the start of new deeper relations between our two nations, and yes, politicians may come and go, but the trinity house agreement will live on, and it will keep our countries and europe safely in the years to come. . ~' and europe safely in the years to come. . ~ ,, and europe safely in the years to come. . ~ i. ., ~ ,, , come. thank you. thank you very much. come. thank you. thank you very much- ladies _ come. thank you. thank you very much. ladies and _ come. thank you. thank you very much. ladies and gentlemen, - come. thank you. thank you very much. ladies and gentlemen, i i come. thank you. thank you very - much. ladies and gentlemen, i could not be more delighted to be here at trinity house in london for my first official visit to the uk since being in office. so thank you very much for the invitation, thank you very much for your hospitality in this tremendous place of british history. thank you very much for that and

thank you for your invitation. please allow me to give some remarks. john and me, we have not known each otherfor a remarks. john and me, we have not known each other for a long time, but still, we met more times than i met some other colleagues in europe and beyond, and even my wife told me sometimes she gets the impression i am meeting him more than her. so we haven't really a very close partnership and we built it up in a very short time, and i am very thankfulfor a colleague very short time, and i am very thankful for a colleague like you because i am sure about what is going on and we will work together veryjustly and going on and we will work together very justly and with friendship so thank you for that. my link to british military reaches very long backin british military reaches very long back in my life, and that means, because i am 64, very long back. i grew up and was born in lower saxony, city of peace as some of you

know. more of you probably know what it means in the history of british troops. it used to be one of the biggest, or even the biggest garrison outside the uk, and i was born there. i said goodbye to our british friends and partners in 2008 when they left in awful weather, how do you call the hats of the guards question what they were so heavy they had to take them off because they had to take them off because they were full of water. we used to say on that day that the sky is crying because our british friends are leaving. my link to british military is very old, so i am very pleased to be here, and indeed, this is a special day for me, too. not personally as ijust is a special day for me, too. not personally as i just emphasised, is a special day for me, too. not personally as ijust emphasised, but even more as defence minister of germany. it is the beginning of

something very valuable. many projects and visions by the trinity house agreement will, first and foremost, give us one thing. more security in europe, and that at the same time this agreement represents an opportunity, an opportunity for the united kingdom and germany to draw closer. that is a welcome thing in times like these. in the face of putin �*s a policy of division and destruction, we are offering something else. solidarity and trust. together we will implement concrete projects to further improve our deterrence and defence capabilities. what has been important to both of us is that all of our project are open to our european and international allies and partners. we are always, and we

know that today even more than ever before, strongest together. i cannot list all the project we are planning. there are too many. but i would like to mention some that are particularly close to my heart. first on nato �*s eastern flank, we will further strengthen the eastern flank by further intensifying our cooperation on site. in other words, your and our armed forces will step up your and our armed forces will step up theirjoint exercising. we will also see how we can advance the combined employment of drones and tents, and we will handle our logistics, ourstorage, tents, and we will handle our logistics, our storage, and our supplies together. for the defence industry, wejust supplies together. for the defence industry, we just heard supplies together. for the defence industry, wejust heard on this, and we will see to it that defence companies are giving contracts and thatjobs are preserved, or newjobs created, and there is a long term planning security for manufacturers.

it is only with long—term contracts that production lines can be expanded and our requirement is met sustainably. we are making this happen. on research and develop meant, joint exercises and the production of weapons and ammunition are essentialfor our production of weapons and ammunition are essential for our armed forces, and therefore four hour security. beyond that, we are also thinking about the future of course. this means we must conduct research and development together. and we must continue to provide our service men and women with the best possible state equipment. that is why we are committed to closer co—operation on research and development in aerial systems and that way we can better ensure compatibility of our systems. it is crucial that we increase our option of using the same systems. we

know that the systems of the future will be exceedingly complex. future aircraft and drones be highly complicated. high—tech devices capable of communicating and operating with each other. that makes joint development all the more important. or, as for otherjoint projects, we will develop new weapons with our partners with extended ranges and improved position. we will enhance our protection of critical undersea infrastructure, and generate even more detailed situation pictures. we will expand our air defence, together with our partners. operating out of lossiemouth in scotland, planes will episodically tribute to the protection of the north atlantic. that way we will be able to better protect european airspace against the threat of

long—range missiles. ukraine. in closing, let me make one thing especially clear once more. we will continue to support ukraine together. for months, moscow has been unleashing massive air strikes on the country, killing civilians and destroying the infrastructure as well as ukraine �*s economic base. this is why we must continue to strengthen ukraine in its struggle to defend itself. germany is supporting ukraine with more than 8 billion euros only this year and in addition to many other measures, we have provided sea king helicopters. in cooperation with the united kingdom, we will now equip them with modern rockets. and we are cooperating with the uk on helping ukraine develop its own deterrence and defence capabilities as part of what we call capability coalition,

asjohnjust mentioned. the what we call capability coalition, asjohn just mentioned. the trinity house agreement will be part of an intergovernmental agreement between the united kingdom and germany that is to be signed early next year. the fact that we are taking the first step in that direction today shows that we are playing our part in british german relations. this is an important, very important milestone in our cooperation, and in our partnership. and it is an opportunity. i'm glad that we are both wholeheartedly embracing this opportunity and i thank you for your trust. let me put it together, what we are doing here, and what we have been doing in the months before, and what we are doing in the months to come and the years to come is nothing less than to protect what matters, freedom, democracy, security and trust. thank you. very good, thank you.

we will take some questions now from the media, if you will bear with us. johnny beale, bbc? thank you, defence — johnny beale, bbc? thank you, defence secretary. you are strengthening your relationship here with germany, the defence relationship, but are your party in danger— relationship, but are your party in danger of— relationship, but are your party in danger of burning bridges with another— danger of burning bridges with another key ally, the united states? the donald trump campaign has accused — the donald trump campaign has accused your party or political interference and this morning you have _ interference and this morning you have accused them of creating a controversy. can you address that, and if_ controversy. can you address that, and if i _ controversy. can you address that, and if i could — controversy. can you address that, and if i could ask minister pistorius, you have said this is about— pistorius, you have said this is about strengthening europe within nato, _ about strengthening europe within nato, is _ about strengthening europe within nato, is it— about strengthening europe within nato, is it also about trump proving european _ nato, is it also about trump proving european security in nato because you are _

european security in nato because you are worried about the us election. _ you are worried about the us election, given what trump has had in the _ election, given what trump has had in the past — election, given what trump has had in the past. 35mg election, given what trump has had in the past-— in the past. any individual labour sunporters _ in the past. any individual labour sunporters are — in the past. any individual labour supporters are over— in the past. any individual labour supporters are over in _ in the past. any individual labour supporters are over in the - in the past. any individual labour supporters are over in the us - in the past. any individual labour l supporters are over in the us being part of the democratic election campaign and they are there as individuals, they are there in their own time, they are there at their own time, they are there at their own expense and if they have got accommodation out there, that will also be provided by volunteers. this happens in every election, it is commonplace. it is very different to the determination of a labour government to work with whoever the american people elected next month as their president, and just as the uk and the us have a special deep relationship, and have had for decades, that's a relationship that has withstood the political ups and downs on both sides of the atlantic and we are determined to make that work in the future. this is in the

middle of an election campaign. this is the way politics work. you have been around almost as long as i have. these are volunteers doing their bit, and getting a bit of experience out there, but doing so as individuals.— as individuals. thank you for your cuestion as individuals. thank you for your question and _ as individuals. thank you for your question and in _ as individuals. thank you for your question and in the _ as individuals. thank you for your question and in the first - as individuals. thank you for your question and in the first place - as individuals. thank you for your question and in the first place i l question and in the first place i would like to apologise for my very strong german accent but i can't change it because i am too old for that. let me emphasise that i have always been stressing during the last 1.5 years, since i came to office, that it would be a wrong answer to say... i don't know if it is a correct translation, but it would be wrong to look like a rabbit in front of a snake. the elections

in front of a snake. the elections in washington will have a result whatever, but our responsibility in europe is to strengthen the european angle, the european pillar of nato and this is what we should have done earlier in my opinion and i am convinced about that. but we didn't. i always stress about the baltic and the scandinavian countries, they woke up in 2014 with the annexation of crimea. we woke up to, germany, britain, france and other countries in europe, but we pushed the snooze button and turned around. all the other countries stayed awake and they did what was necessary to do, and so we lost almost eight years. and we have now to speed up. therefore, it is of course of importance because we trust on the euro atlantic alliance on the solidarity and friendship, but we have to do more. the us will shift

theirfocus more to have to do more. the us will shift their focus more to the indo—pacific for reasons we all know, and so it is only a question of will they do much less in europe because of that, or only a little bit less? anyway, we would have to do more, and this is our task. so, you should very much see this as an agreement setting out to reinforce the european leadership within nato, and as the minister has said, not a closed shop, but what we want to develop, what we want to drive together is there for other european partners to join as well. annette from ard? european partners to 'oin as well. annette from ard?_ european partners to 'oin as well. annette from ard? hello. a question to both of you _ annette from ard? hello. a question to both of you. you _ annette from ard? hello. a question to both of you. you have _ annette from ard? hello. a question to both of you. you have depicted - to both of you. you have depicted this treatment, this agreement as a very important milestone but also as a first— very important milestone but also as a first step _ very important milestone but also as a first step to a wider and broader intergovernmental treaty that will

be signed at the beginning of next year _ be signed at the beginning of next year. could you maybe give us an idea of— year. could you maybe give us an idea of what areas will be in there as well, _ idea of what areas will be in there as well, and this goes beyond what keir starmer said when he announced this, this _ keir starmer said when he announced this, this will go beyond the pure industrial— this, this will go beyond the pure industrial corporation and defence and security. could you give us an idea of— and security. could you give us an idea of where this will lead and what _ idea of where this will lead and what the — idea of where this will lead and what the next step will be from here? — what the next step will be from here? ~ ., , ., what the next step will be from here? ~ ., ., .,, what the next step will be from here? . ., ., .,, ., what the next step will be from here? . ., . ., . ., here? well, as far as i am informed, the negotiations _ here? well, as far as i am informed, the negotiations about _ here? well, as far as i am informed, the negotiations about the _ here? well, as far as i am informed, the negotiations about the treaty - the negotiations about the treaty will be finished in the beginning of the year on the latest maybe even earlier, and i am only the defence minister. i have enough to work with on my business. as far as i am informed, it is about cultural change, industrial politics, it is about almost everything and it is necessary to do that, to make that restart after a long period and i really appreciate the decision to do that together, and to do it so

quickly together so i am quite