Macron used the address to underline his commitment to the “coalition of the willing,” the initiative spearheaded by the U.K. and France to protect any Ukrainian ceasefire, which the French president described in his speech as a “signal that Europeans will never abandon Ukraine.”
He also said European leaders needed to call for a ceasefire in Gaza without any conditions in order to demonstrate that “there is no double standard” when it comes to the Middle East, specifying that working towards the recognition of Palestinian statehood is “the only path to peace.”
That’s a bold message in the U.K., which has shied away from such a move. Questioned by MPs on the subject Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said only that he “hoped” Palestinian statehood would be part of any peace process.
France’s first couple will return to Windsor Tuesday evening for a state banquet. Macron will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer Wednesday, with tackling illegal cross-Channel migration expected to feature.
Addressing one of the toughest challenges facing the British premier, Macron promised further cooperation to combat the issue, saying: “We cannot allow our country’s rules for taking in people to be flouted in criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life.”
Discussions of a so-called “one in, one out” migration deal between the two countries are ongoing, according to officials.
Macron also announced that France will loan the famed Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum from next year, quipping that “it took probably more years to deliver this project than all the Brexit texts.”
