On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris to discuss ways to boost post-Brexit cooperation with Europe. Paris was the second stop on Starmer’s tour of key EU capitals, after Berlin, when he launched treaty talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Macron greeted Starmer warmly with a hug and a handshake, signalling a positive start to their conversations.
France, like Germany, is an important security partner for the United Kingdom, with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and one of Western Europe’s nuclear-armed states. Both countries have shown strong support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion. However, migrant crossings from France to the UK continue to be a sensitive subject.
Despite continuous cooperation between respective security agencies, migrant arrivals in the UK have hit a new high this year, with 13,500 arriving in the first six months alone.
Starmer intends to strengthen EU connections, to sign a pact with Germany by the end of the year. However, obstacles remain as Scholz’s weak coalition prepares for regional elections and Macron grapples with parliamentary deadlock caused by a hung parliament.
