Over recent months, Pistorius, a close ally of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, has upended the traditional unpopularity of recent German defense ministers. Even though their bilateral relationship is just a few months old, Healey said the two have found time to enjoy a Pilsner beer together as they figure out how to coordinate their national defense industries to better bolster NATO.
The pair headed to the pub after Wednesday’s signing, with Pistorius enjoying a Guinness.
“We get on well,” Healey said. “He is a defense minister in Germany that is leading not just a a big program of change … but he’s also leading deep reform in the German system. Both are required.”
“He’s an outstanding politician,” added Healey of his German counterpart. “He’s an outstanding defense minister.”
John Healey has made cooperation with Germany a priority. | Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
The U.K. and Germany are both managing major reforms to their national armies, with Healey waiting on the results of a Strategic Defence Review next year which should steer spending. Meanwhile, Pistorius is busy spending a massive €100 billion kitty under the government’s Zeitenwende rearmament initiative on various military procurement schemes while pushing his coalition partners to allocate even more funding to defense.
“We won’t be just training and exercising together, we’ll be developing some of the technologies that may mean that our armies can fight in a different way,” said Healey of the cooperation pact with Germany.
“We’ve got to not just be capable of defending our nations, but more importantly, be more effective in the deterrence we can provide against any future aggression,” he said. “Unless we’re ready to fight, we’re not in a shape to deter.”