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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
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme what may change as a result of Thursday’s meeting, Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty highlighted the issues of space and quantum technology. <\/p>\n
“We’re going to be seeing new partnerships between German space companies and our Spaceport in Scotland; we’re going to be ensuring research and technical capability between our top researchers working on quantum technologies which are going to change the world of computing.”<\/p>\n
He would not be drawn further on how the UK will increase defence spending – and in response to Lescure’s remarks, added: “We always welcome warmth from our European friends and partners.”<\/p>\n
European leaders have warned the threat of hybrid attacks against Europe by Russia has intensified in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Hybrid warfare or hybrid attacks are loose terms which tend to describe non-military methods designed to exert pressure and destabilise an adversary – for example cyber attacks, sabotage or misinformation.<\/p>\n
Sir Mark Lyall Grant, former UK national security adviser, explained that hybrid warfare “falls somewhere between peace and war – it’s in that sort of grey zone, an area where Russia has been extremely active for some time”.<\/p>\n
He told Radio 4’s Today that while Russia had posed a threat to the UK since Vladimir Putin became president in 2001, there had been an “intensification” in response to European support for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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