U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are set to sign a treaty on Thursday pledging to tighten defense ties and step up law-enforcement cooperation against gangs that smuggle migrants across the English Channel.
The center-right German leader is in London on his first official visit to Britain since taking office in May. Starmer visited Berlin in August 2024, announcing plans for the U.K.-Germany “friendship and cooperation” treaty with Merz’s predecessor, Olaf Scholz.
A priority for Starmer, who heads the center-left Labour Party, is curbing the gangs behind cross-channel people smuggling. About 37,000 people were detected crossing the English Channel from France in small boats in 2024, and more than 20,000 people made the crossing in the first six months of 2025. Dozens of people have died trying to cross.
