David Lammy, the UK’s new foreign secretary, has embarked on his first international trip to Germany, Poland, and Sweden. The trip did not focus on immediate results but on the appearance of a new, determined administration, willing to work with important partners. As part of this, Lammy visited German counterpart Annalena Baerbock before moving to Poland where he met with Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorsky. The tour then headed to Sweden, one of NATO’s newest members. The choice of these countries was partly due to their role in sustaining Kyiv’s war effort alongside the UK.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey also recently visited Ukraine, where he reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to the war effort with added military aid. He pledged to provide more than a quarter-million ammunition rounds and nearly 100 precision Brimstone missiles. He also promised to fast-track reinforcements to arrive within the next 100 days. The UK’s commitment to Ukraine will remain rock-solid, despite a change in government.
Lammy stresses that he wants to reset both the UK’s bilateral relationship with Europe and its relationship with the EU. He also references Labour’s pledge to strike a new EU-UK security pact. The trip occurs just days ahead of UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s forthcoming visit to Washington D.C. for the NATO summit.
Despite the tricky times to be shoring up relationships, it is important not to confuse disagreements between mature democracies with the threats posed by authoritarian regimes. Issues such as the war in Gaza hang heavy over Lammy’s first trip. In Germany, he spoke to the need for a more balanced approach to Israel-Gaza, but it is not clear what he meant. Finding a way to end the Gaza war and revive the Arab-Israeli peace process is likely to take a lot of diplomatic effort in the coming months.
Lammy’s host in Poland, Radoslaw Sikorski, hopes for a more pragmatic approach from the UK to its relationship with Europe. The two ministers discussed creative ideas on furthering that relationship. Lammy wants to double down on the commitment to Ukraine, and the new spirit of cooperation will be on show at the upcoming meeting of the European Political Community
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