German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she wants to intensify cooperation between Germany and the United Kingdom after Brexit, which she called "a watershed for us all".

"With a formalised strategic dialogue between our two countries we want to further intensify the close UK-German exchange which has accompanied me in my role as Foreign Minister since almost the very first day," she said in a statement ahead of a visit to Ireland and the United Kingdom.

"We also want to work together to place very practical achievements of the EU, such as the youth exchange programmes between our two countries and worker mobility, on a new footing in our relations with the United Kingdom."

Baerbock called on European Union member states and the United Kingdom "to protect and to implement" the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The U.K. is currently negotiating with the EU on a protocol that is part of the Brexit agreement, which requires inspection of some goods moving into Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. because of the open land border with EU member Ireland.