French President Emmanuel Macron, proper, welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer forward of their assembly on August 29, 2024 on the Elysee Palace in Paris. | Photograph credit score: AP
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was warmly welcomed in Paris on Thursday (29 August 2024) by French chief Emmanuel Macron, as Britain’s new centre-left authorities seeks to revive post-Brexit ties with Europe.
Paris is the second cease on Starmer’s journey to main EU capitals, after the Prime Minister visited Berlin and introduced treaty talks alongside Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Mr Macron greeted Mr Starmer with a demonstrative hug, slapping the newly elected chief on the again and shaking his hand.
French presidents are sometimes greeted by uniformed Republican Guards, who stand at consideration on the high of the steps within the courtyard of the presidential palace as they welcome guests.
The couple has lots to debate.
Like Germany, France is a key safety companion for Britain: Paris and London have everlasting seats on the United Nations Safety Council and are the one Western European powers with nuclear weapons.
Each international locations share sturdy assist for Ukraine in its battle towards Russian invasion since 2022.
Extra delicate is the problem of migrants crossing the English Channel to the UK on boats, one thing that safety forces from each international locations have been cooperating for years to attempt to stem.
This was the primary goal highlighted by Starmer in an announcement revealed earlier than his go to to France, together with boosting financial development.
Migrant arrivals in Britain hit a document within the first six months of the yr, London mentioned, rising 18 p.c year-on-year to 13,500 individuals.
For the reason that starting of the yr, 25 individuals have died on typically dangerously overcrowded boats, twice as many as in the entire of 2023.
Reaching a brand new degree of cooperation with the EU as a complete could also be harder to attain than the deal Starmer hopes to strike with Germany by the tip of the yr.
He has made a basic selection of interlocutors by selecting Scholz and Macron as heads of the normal Franco-German energy couple within the EU.
However each are in a weakened state that would restrict their affect on transactions throughout the Canal.
Mr Scholz heads a shaky three-party coalition that can undergo a crushing defeat in three regional elections subsequent month and is unlikely to outlive subsequent yr’s nationwide elections.
Macron is struggling to discover a prime ministerial candidate after a snap election in July resulted in a hung parliament, a stark distinction to Starmer’s unassailable majority.
