Germany and the Philippines will enhance defense ties and boost joint activities as Manila builds up a range of alliances to strengthen its position in a long-standing dispute with China in the South China Sea.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius signed a defense cooperation arrangement in Berlin in mid-May 2025, agreeing to expand cooperation to include cybersecurity, armaments and logistics, and United Nations peacekeeping, the Philippine National Defense Department announced.
The deal follows the leaders’ meeting in Manila in 2024 where they committed to boosting long-term relations between their militaries.
The cooperation arrangement adds to the Philippines’ growing list of defense deals beyond its longtime alliance with the United States. Manila agreed in April 2025 to expand military cooperation with New Zealand and is expected to soon sign a similar deal with Canada.
A reciprocal access deal with Japan was ratified in December 2024, and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved negotiations with France for a similar visiting forces agreement.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, a vital trade route, despite overlapping maritime claims by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
In 2016, an international tribunal ruled that Beijing’s claims had no legal basis, but China continues to ignore that decision.
Pistorius has said that the “ruling remains valid, without any exceptions.” In September 2024, two German Navy vessels transited the Indo-Pacific, including a port call to Manila, to demonstrate Berlin’s commitment to freedom of navigation.
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