Political Relations Between The Federal Republic of Germany and The Great Britain after Brexit

Marić Bojan S. (Institut za međunarodnu politiku i privredu (IMPP)), bojan.erdoglija@gmail.com

The main task of the paper is to establish the main determinants of German and British political relations, with special emphasis on the development of these relations after Brexit. The introductory part of the paper presents the circumstances under which Britain left the EU, in light of the fact that this process was the first case of leaving the EU by one of its members. The basic contours of German and British relations were outlined, as well as the challenges facing the Federal Republic of Germany in order of its firm determination to preserve the EU and adequately respond to new challenges in line with the turmoil at the global level. Since the second strongest economy and its third most populous country left the EU, the role of Germany in shaping the post-Brexit union is becoming more prominent. The central part of the paper is dedicated to the analysis of the foreign policy agendas of the two countries in the post-Brexit circumstances. With the exit of Great Britain from the EU, the task of devising a new foreign policy doctrine of Britain and its role in the world was inevitably imposed on its government. Although the basic contours of German foreign policy doctrine, rooted in decades of tradition, remain unchanged, in the new coalition agreement of the German government, a more ambitious approach can be seen in agreement with its Euro-Atlantic partners. The final part points to the perspectives of future relations between the two countries in accordance with their tradition, that is, the basic directions of their foreign policy, as well as the changed geopolitical landscape. The core of future bilateral relations between the two countries will inevitably take place in the light of the fact that, as an EU member, Germany has an obligation to build a common foreign and security policy within the European agenda. Different research methods were used to consider the specific subject of research. Among the basic methods of cognition, the methods of analysis and synthesis were applied. As for general scientific methods, hypothetical deductive and historical methods were used.

Keywords: Brexit, FR Germany, United Kingdom, foreign policy, European Union, NATO, Joint Declaration