The jury was out on whether French President Emmanuel Macron is a friend of Britain, Prime Minister Liz Truss said on Thursday, after declaring earlier this year while campaigning to become leader, that the jury was out on whether he was a friend or foe.
Truss was speaking at the inaugural summit of the European Political Community EPC in Prague, a format that is Macron's brainchild and brings together the 27 EU members with 17 other European countries.
Truss said he was a friend when asked if she had made up her mind about Macron.
The two leaders met for scheduled talks shortly after her comment and agreed to take forward a renewed bilateral agenda, according to a joint statement.
The President and the Prime Minister reaffirmed the strong and historic ties between their two countries, a statement said, announcing an agreement to hold a UK-France summit in France in 2023.
Since Britain left the European Union in early 2020, the relations between Britain and France have become more tense, inflamed by disputes over control of border posts and the flow of migrants crossing the sea from Calais to southern England.
I work closely with President Macron and the French government and we're talking about how the UK and France can work together to build more nuclear power stations and make sure that both countries have energy security in the future, Truss said. We're both very clear: The foe is Vladimir Putin. Her initial remarks in August, made during the campaign to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, played to Anglo-French rivalry and drew cheers from an audience of members of the governing, eurosceptic Conservative Party.
But they drew a cool response from Macron, who said Britain was a friendly nation, regardless of its leaders, sometimes in spite of its leaders. After Truss became prime minister, the two met in New York, where Macron said there had been a desire to re-engage, to show that we are allies and friends in a complex world. A joint statement issued after Thursday's meeting included a recommitment of support for a nuclear power station in England built by French firm EDF, affirmation of their commitment to support Ukraine and a promise to work more closely on tackling cross-channel migration.