Germany news: UK's Burnham visits Berlin for talks with Merz

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is visiting Berlin to launch a new bilateral treaty and hold talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz. President Steinmeier is on a state visit to France.

The 'Kensington Treaty' between the UK and Germany comes into force amid Burnham's trip to Berlin. The UK leader and Chancellor Friedrich Merz held one-on-one talks as part of the visit. In Berlin, the Left Party, Greens and Social Democrats have agreed to begin exploratory coalition talks after resolving differences over antisemitism and organized crime. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is to be welcomed with military honors at the Arc de Triomphe at the start of a state visit to France. The German parliament is to discuss a planned reform of the tax system that has caused heated debate within the coalition government. And a wax döner kebab is now on show at Berlin's Madame Tussauds, visitors are advised not to try to taste it.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz received relatively new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham with military honors in Berlin. During Burnham's visit, the new Treaty on Friendship and Bilateral Cooperation between the UK and Germany — signed last year by previous Prime Minister Keir Starmer — officially comes into force. Also known as the Kensington Treaty, the 27-page document lays out a 17-point action plan for closer cooperation in the post-Brexit era, with the UK no longer a part of the EU. Merz called it a historic day and said the deal opened up new opportunities for bilateral cooperation, particularly for students and young people.

Burnham said that the Kensington Treaty would improve security in Europe, help both economies grow and improve people's living standards. Burnham also said that he was open to Germany joining the GCAP program, a partnership between Britain, Italy and Japan to build a next-generation multirole combat aircraft. A rival Franco-German plan to build a next-generation military jet, FCAS, collapsed in June.

Germany's Left Party, Greens and Social Democrats (SPD) have agreed to begin exploratory talks on forming a coalition government in Berlin, two and a half weeks after the city's state election. The breakthrough follows an agreement on combating antisemitism and organized crime, issues that had threatened to derail negotiations before they began. The parties said they would protect Jewish life in Berlin and reaffirmed that Israel's right to exist was 'non-negotiable.'

Japan extradited on Thursday one of the suspected leaders of the Russian hacking group Qilin, which has extorted hundreds of millions of dollars, to Germany, officials said. Herbert Reul, Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), said at a press conference that the unnamed suspect was arrested in Japan while on vacation. The Qilin group has extorted about $2.9 billion from some 4,000 companies and institutions worldwide since 2024. At least 30 companies in the German state of NRW have been affected.