The UK and Germany have formally launched a joint security partnership designed to counter Russian cyber attacks, sabotage and other hybrid threats, coinciding with the ratification of the bilateral Kensington Treaty in Berlin.[3][14][15] The move marks Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first official visit to the German capital for talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz focused on strengthening shared defences against hostile activity.[1][14]
Under the new arrangement, the two countries will share information and coordinate action to monitor, deter and disrupt threats, with the goal of degrading hostile actors’ capacity to operate in Europe and building resilience against attacks on critical infrastructure.[3][5][15] The joint statements frame the initiative as a response to “hybrid threats” from adversaries such as Russia, encompassing cyber operations, physical sabotage, and disinformation campaigns that fall below the threshold of conventional military conflict but can still cause strategic damage.[1][3][15]
The security partnership is anchored in the Kensington Treaty, a wide-ranging bilateral agreement signed in July 2025 in London that commits the UK and Germany to deeper cooperation on science, technology, defence, security and economic growth.[3][15] Exchanging ratification documents in Berlin formally brings the treaty into force, giving political backing to the new hybrid-threat partnership and signalling that cyber and information security now sit at the core of the countries’ future relationship.[14][15]
The Berlin announcement follows Burnham’s debut address to the UN General Assembly in September, where he outlined plans for a National Centre for Information Defence to detect, attribute and disrupt hostile state information attacks, including deepfakes and other AI-driven manipulation targeting British institutions.[7][10][12] The proposed centre will draw together expertise from intelligence agencies, government departments, law enforcement and major online platforms to counter what Burnham has described as an “insidious” campaign of disinformation by Russia and other hostile states.[2][7][10]
UK policy documents already commit to scaling cooperation with European partners on hybrid and information threats, including close work with teams in Germany, France, Poland and Brussels to deliver what London describes as a pan-European response to a pan-European problem.[11] German officials likewise have warned that Moscow’s use of cyber operations, sabotage and information warfare poses a growing risk to critical infrastructure and democratic processes, concerns that are explicitly reflected in the language of the new bilateral partnership.[1][3]
Public statements so far sketch broad objectives but provide few operational details, with no specific agencies named and no new funding lines announced for joint cyber operations or shared defensive capabilities.[3][15] For incident response and threat intelligence teams in both countries, the pact nevertheless signals an expectation of closer cross-border information sharing and more coordinated reactions to major cyber or hybrid incidents, even if the mechanisms have yet to be fully articulated.[1][3] Organisations operating critical infrastructure in the UK and Germany should track emerging guidance and information-sharing channels linked to the partnership and the planned information defence centre, and ensure their playbooks can incorporate timely government threat intelligence when new joint measures come online.[3][10]
References
- UK PM Burnham to discuss sabotage and … – Euronews
- UK to fight Russian disinformation and push new global AI …
- UK and Germany launch joint-partnership to counter sabotage and cyber attacks
- UK and Germany joining forces to fight sabotage, hybrid threats, and cyber attacks | LBC
- UK ready to lead global push on AI standards, Burnham …
- UK national centre will fight Russian disinformation, says UK prime minister Andy Burnham
- UK action against Russian foreign information warfare
- United Kingdom announces action on disinformation and …
- PM and Merz launch UK-Germany security pact
- www.wired-gov.net · wg · newsJoint UK-Germany Statement – Berlin, 8 October 2026 | 10 …
