PARIS (AP) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met yesterday in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron in efforts to mend relations following post-Brexit tensions, as well as improving military and business ties and toughening efforts against Channel migrant crossings.
Both leaders shook hands and briefly posed for photographers, smiling, as Sunak arrived at the presidential palace.
The French-British summit, the first since 2018, is set to show a “new chapter” is opening in relations between the two countries, according to Macron’s office.
Such an event was previously held almost every year.
Relations between the United Kingdom (UK) and France chilled amid post-Brexit wrangling over fishing rights and other issues, and hit rock-bottom under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who took delight in needling the French.
His successor, Liz Truss, ruffled French feathers last year when she said the “jury is out” on whether Macron was a friend or a foe.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought Britain and its European neighbours closer together in support of Kyiv, and the mood improved after pragmatic, technocratic Sunak took office in October after Truss’ brief and economically destabilising term.
Sunak’s visit also comes two weeks before King Charles III travels to France and then Germany for his first state visits since becoming monarch, in further British efforts to build bridges with European neighbours.
“The summit will be above all an opportunity to reaffirm and deepen the close cooperation in terms of military support for Ukraine,” according to the statement from Macron’s Elysee Palace, as both countries are the only nuclear powers in the region.
A delegation of seven senior ministers from each country will take part, including those responsible for foreign affairs, defence and domestic issues.
France and the UK plan to strengthen military cooperation, including on supplying weapons to Kyiv and training Ukrainian Marines.
The British government said Sunak and Macron also will discuss “establishing the backbone to a permanent European maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific” by coordinating deployment to the region of France’s Charles de Gaulle and the UK’s Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales aircraft carriers.
Last month the UK and the European Union (EU) announced a breakthrough in talks to resolve the dispute over post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Britain also has cautiously welcomed Macron’s proposal for a European Political Community, a new forum aimed at boosting security and prosperity across the continent.
Launched in October, it brings together existing EU members, aspiring partners in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as Britain and Turkiye.
Sunak seeks closer cooperation on measures to stop thousands of migrants crossing the Channel from France to England.
The UK and France signed an agreement in November to increase police patrols on beaches in northern France with London agreeing to pay Paris EUR72.2 million in 2022-2023 and Sunak hopes to cement further cooperation on tackling illegal migration.
