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French President Emmanuel Macron has called for British enactment to recognise the authorities of Palestine and assistance support Ukraine arsenic helium arrived successful the United Kingdom for the archetypal authorities sojourn by a European person since Brexit.
Macron, successful a uncommon code to some houses of the British parliament connected Tuesday, celebrated the instrumentality of person ties betwixt France and the UK, and said the 2 countries indispensable enactment unneurotic to extremity “excessive dependencies” connected the United States and China.
The French president’s three-day travel came astatine the invitation of King Charles III. Macron was earlier greeted by the royal family, including heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife, Princess Catherine, earlier they travelled successful horse-drawn carriages to Windsor Castle.
Macron past acceptable retired to parliament wherever helium said the 2 countries needed to travel unneurotic to fortify Europe, including connected defence, immigration, clime and trade.
“The United Kingdom and France indispensable erstwhile again amusement the satellite that our confederation tin marque each the difference,” the French president said successful English. “The lone mode to flooded the challenges we have, the challenges of our times, volition beryllium to spell unneurotic manus successful hand, enarthrosis to shoulder.”
Macron besides promised that European countries would “never wantonness Ukraine” successful its warfare against invading Russian forces, portion demanding an unconditional ceasefire successful Gaza.
He past urged the UK to enactment unneurotic with France connected recognising a Palestinian state, calling it “the lone way to peace”.
“With Gaza successful ruin and West Bank being connected a regular ground attacked, the position of a Palestinian authorities has ne'er been enactment astatine hazard arsenic it is,” Macron said. “And this is wherefore this solution of the 2 states and the designation of the State of Palestine is… the lone mode to physique bid and stableness for each successful the full region.”
He listed the geopolitical threats France and the UK face, and argued they should besides beryllium wary of the “excessive dependencies of some the US and China”, saying they needed to “de-risk our economies and our societies from this dual dependency”.
UK’s King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron beryllium connected a carriage arsenic they get astatine Windsor Castle, successful Windsor, Britain, July 8, 2025 [Jaimi Joy/Pool via Reuters]Macron went connected to acceptable retired the opportunities of a person union, saying they should marque it easier for students, researchers and artists to unrecorded successful each other’s countries, and question to enactment unneurotic connected artificial quality and to support children online.
The code symbolised the betterment successful relations sought by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s centre-left Labour Party, arsenic portion of a broader reset of ties with European allies pursuing the rancour implicit London’s departure from the European Union.
‘Entente Amicale’
Later connected Tuesday evening, King Charles hosted a banquet for the Macrons astatine Windsor Castle, with 160 guests, including politicians, diplomats and celebrities specified arsenic Mick Jagger and Elton John.
Charles utilized his code astatine the opulent authorities banquet to christen a caller epoch of affable relations, upgrading the “entente cordiale” – an confederation dating from 1904 that ended centuries of subject rivalries – to an “entente amicale”.
“As we dine present successful this past place, redolent with our shared history, let maine to suggest a toast to France and to our caller entente. An entente not lone past and present, but for the aboriginal – and nary longer conscionable cordiale, but present amicale,” the king said.
The UK and France marked the three-day sojourn with an announcement that French atomic vigor inferior EDF would put 1.1 cardinal pounds ($1.5bn) successful a atomic powerfulness task successful eastbound England.
The 2 besides said France would lend the UK the Bayeux Tapestry, allowing the 11th-century masterpiece to instrumentality for the archetypal clip successful much than 900 years, successful speech for London loaning Paris Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasures.
Politics volition instrumentality centre signifier connected Wednesday, erstwhile Macron sits down for talks with Starmer connected migration, defence and investment.
Despite tensions implicit post-Brexit ties and however to halt asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel successful tiny boats, the UK and France person been moving intimately to make a planned subject unit to enactment Ukraine successful the lawsuit of a ceasefire with Russia.
The 2 leaders volition dial successful to a gathering of the conjugation connected Thursday “to sermon stepping up enactment for Ukraine and further expanding unit connected Russia”, Starmer’s bureau confirmed connected Monday.
They volition talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the French presidency.
Starmer is hoping the UK’s enactment for Ukraine volition assistance transportation Macron to instrumentality a antithetic attack to stopping radical smuggling, with London wanting to effort retired an asylum seekers’ returns deal.
This would impact the UK deporting 1 asylum seeker to France successful speech for different with a morganatic lawsuit to beryllium successful the country. A grounds fig of asylum seekers person arrived successful the UK connected tiny boats successful the archetypal six months of this year. Starmer, whose enactment is trailing Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK enactment successful the polls, is nether unit to find a solution.
France has antecedently refused to motion specified an agreement, saying the UK should negociate an statement with each EU countries.
Source:
Al Jazeera and quality agencies
English (US) ·