Germany and the Philippines agreed to 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 contested South China Sea.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and German counterpart Boris Pistorius signed an “arrangement concerning defense cooperation” in Berlin, agreeing to expand cooperation to include cybersecurity, defense armament and logistics, and United Nations peacekeeping, Manila’s defense ministry said.
The May 2025 deal follows a 2024 visit by Pistorius to Manila, where he and Teodoro committed to boosting long-term relations between their militaries. The Philippines’ defense cooperation arrangement with Germany adds to a growing list of defense deals beyond its traditional Ally, the United States.
In April 2025, the Philippines signed an agreement with New Zealand for expanded military cooperation, and a similar deal with Canada is expected. A reciprocal access deal with Japan was ratified in December 2024, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the start of negotiations with France for a visiting forces agreement.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, a vital trade artery, despite overlapping maritime claims by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, angering its neighbors.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said Beijing’s claims had no legal basis. China rejects that decision.
Pistorius said in August 2024 that the “ruling remains valid, without any exceptions.”
In September 2024, two German warships went on a rare transit in the Indo-Pacific to demonstrate Berlin’s commitment to freedom of navigation.