UK Tells EU It Wants Security Pact Negotiations in Spring 2025
- Starmer had previously suggested he was seeking quick deal
- UK proposing deal to include energy, health, climate change
Keir Starmer
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Keir Starmer’s new UK government has told the European Union it wants to start substantive negotiations over a defense and security pact in Spring 2025, signaling a quick deal is unlikely to be struck.
The broad time-frame was set by Nick Thomas-Symonds, who Starmer has appointed minister for European relations, in early meetings with EU diplomats, according to people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity discussing timings that have not been made public. Formal talks would not take place until well after the new European Commission is in place later this year, the people said.