German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) is welcomed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the European Political Community Summit at Blenheim Palace on July 18, 2024 in Woodstock, England.
WPA Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images
OXFORD, England — Britain’s new Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to reset fractured relations with Europe on Thursday by welcoming more than 45 heads of state from across the continent to Winston Churchill’s hometown.
Starmer will tell the European political summit that the challenges facing Europe cannot be tackled alone and that the region must work together to present a united front on security and defence.
“We cannot let the challenges of the recent past define our future relationship,” Starmer said in a statement released from Downing Street on Wednesday.
“That is why European security will be at the forefront of this government’s foreign and defence policy priorities, and that is why I am seeking to seize this opportunity to renew our relationship with Europe,” he said.
Starmer will tell attendees in his opening speech at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, that his new British government will play a “more active and unifying role” on the world stage.
The announcement comes as the specter of a second presidency for Republican candidate Donald Trump looms over Europe after an assassination attempt over the weekend boosted support for the former president.
Both Trump and his recently announced running mate, J.D. Vance, have indicated that continued support for Europe, and Ukraine in particular, is not guaranteed under a second Trump administration. The Republican presidential nominee has repeatedly lambasted the continent’s lack of defense spending and threatened to withdraw from NATO, while Vance has been ambivalent about U.S. intervention in foreign affairs.
In anticipation of this, European NATO members have increased their defence spending, including a new pledge from Starmer to spend 2.5% of UK gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
Thursday’s meeting is Starmer’s first chance to meet his key European allies on home turf, following his attendance at last week’s NATO summit in Washington and his election on July 4.
Leaders of the 27 European Union member states, along with 20 other heads of state from across the region, arrived on Thursday to attend the one-day EPC summit at the historic English country house.
For the first time this year, the forum also welcomes members of NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe.
This is the fourth time the EPC forum has been held since it was established in 2022 by French President Emmanuel Macron following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The stated aims of the forum are to foster political dialogue and cooperation, and to strengthen Europe’s security, stability and prosperity. Sessions on Thursday will include three roundtables on migration, energy and connectivity, and defending and securing democracy.
Talks over a new post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal will not be on the agenda, however, with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy telling BBC Breakfast earlier on Thursday that the two sides were “far away” from such a pact.
The summit has been criticised in the past by those who question the point of having another political group, especially since the previous summit in Granada, Spain, ended with few concrete conclusions.
News Source : www.cnbc.com
Gn world
