Blitz Bureau
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron said on July 8 Britain and France must work together to counter the world’s many destabilising threats and protect Europe from “excessive dependencies” on the United States and China, reported Reuters.
Macron, in a rare address to both houses of the British Parliament, celebrated the return of closer ties between the two countries as he became the first European leader to be invited for a British state visit since Brexit. Having been greeted earlier by the British royal family, Macron set out to Parliament where he said the two countries needed to come together to strengthen Europe, including on defence, immigration, climate, and trade.
“The United Kingdom and France must once again show the world that our alliance can make all the difference,” he said. “The only way to overcome the challenges we have, the challenges of our times, will be to go together hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.”
Listing the geopolitical threats the countries face, Macron argued they should also be wary of the “excessive dependencies of both the U.S. and China,” saying they needed to “de-risk our economies and our societies from this dual dependency.”
But he also set out the opportunities of a closer union, saying they should make it easier for students, researchers and artists to live in each other’s countries, and seek to work together on artificial intelligence and protect children online.
The speech symbolised the improvement in relations sought by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s centre-left Labour Party, as part of a broader reset of ties with European allies following the rancour over Britain’s departure from the European Union. Macron, who enjoys a strong personal relationship with King Charles, was earlier greeted by the royal family, including heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Princess Catherine, before they travelled in horsedrawn carriages to Windsor Castle.
Charles used his speech at the state banquet to christen a new era of friendly relations, upgrading the “entente cordiale” – an alliance dating from 1904 that ended centuries of military rivalries – to an “entente amicale.”
