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Prime Minister Andy Burnham will hold talks on tackling cyber-security threats and sabotage with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday.<\/b><\/p>\n
Downing Street said deeper co-operation in the face of rising hybrid threats from Russia would be high on the agenda during Burnham’s first official visit to Germany.<\/p>\n
Intelligence services in both countries have warned of rising threats, including last month when Germany accused Russia of launching a drone fitted with explosives at Leipzig\/Halle Airport.<\/a><\/p>\n The Berlin talks come days after Burnham told the Labour Party’s conference he wanted to set out options for a closer relationship with the EU later this year, including the prospect of eventually rejoining the bloc.<\/p>\n A German government spokesman has said any future in-out referendum would be primarily a question for Britain, but that Berlin supports stronger ties between the UK and the EU.<\/p>\n Burnham is set to be greeted with military honours at the German capital’s Chancellery ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with the chancellor.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the two leaders will formally ratify the 2025 Kensington Treaty, a partnership committing both countries to tackle hostile activity through deeper cooperation on science, technology, defence, security and growth.<\/p>\n Speaking ahead of the visit, Burnham said the UK and Germany were “joining forces to find, expose and disrupt” threats.<\/p>\n He continued: “Attacks on our infrastructure, our businesses and our democracies are not a distant threat. <\/p>\n “They reach into people’s homes and workplaces, and they are designed to make us weaker and more divided.”<\/p>\n The talks come during a period in which Merz’s own political future has come under intense scrutiny. <\/p>\n Burnham replaced Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in July after the former leader was forced out by his own MPs just two years after winning a landslide election victory. <\/p>\n Similarly, Merz has faced persistent rumours he could be replaced by his party due to his poor approval ratings and following setbacks in regional elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although the chancellor appears to have overcome an immediate crisis in his leadership, questions remain over his future.<\/p>\n The security talks also come in a week when questions have been raised about Germany’s reliability as an intelligence partner, following the bombshell arrest of a former spy chief on suspicion of espionage<\/a>.<\/p>\n August Hanning has been accused of espionage, treason and obtaining classified information for a foreign power, the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office says.<\/p>\n He ran the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005 and has since been working as a private consultant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n