![\"Britain's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2025-07-08T182724Z_1723373822_RC2CIFA0LMRI_RTRMADP_3_BRITAIN-FRANCE-1752028188.jpg\")
UK\u2019s King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron sit on a carriage as they arrive at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, Britain, July 8, 2025 [Jaimi Joy\/Pool via Reuters]<\/p>\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron has called for British support to recognise the state of Palestine and help defend Ukraine as he arrived in the United Kingdom for the first state visit by a European leader since Brexit.<\/p>\n
Macron, in a rare address to both houses of the British parliament on Tuesday, celebrated the return of closer ties between France and the UK, and said the two countries must work together to end \u201cexcessive dependencies\u201d on the United States and China.<\/p>\n
The French president\u2019s three-day trip came at 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, before they travelled in horse-drawn carriages to Windsor Castle.<\/p>\n
Macron then set out to parliament where he said the two countries needed to come together to strengthen Europe, including on defence, immigration, climate and trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United Kingdom and France must once again show the world that our alliance can make all the difference,\u201d the French president said in English. \u201cThe only way to overcome the challenges we have, the challenges of our times, will be to go together hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macron also promised that European countries would \u201cnever abandon Ukraine\u201d in its war against invading Russian forces, while demanding an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n
He then urged the UK to work together with France on recognising a Palestinian state, calling it \u201cthe only path to peace\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Gaza in ruin and West Bank being on a daily basis attacked, the perspective of a Palestinian state has never been put at risk as it is,\u201d Macron said. \u201cAnd this is why this solution of the two states and the recognition of the State of Palestine is\u2026 the only way to build peace and stability for all in the whole region.\u201d<\/p>\n
He listed the geopolitical threats France and the UK face, and argued they should also be wary of the \u201cexcessive dependencies of both the US and China\u201d, saying they needed to \u201cde-risk our economies and our societies from this dual dependency\u201d.<\/p>\n
UK\u2019s King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron sit on a carriage as they arrive at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, Britain, July 8, 2025 [Jaimi Joy\/Pool via Reuters]<\/p>\n
Macron went on to set out the opportunities of a closer union, saying they should make it easier for students, researchers and artists to live in each other\u2019s countries, and seek to work together on artificial intelligence and to protect children online.<\/p>\n
The speech symbolised the improvement in relations sought by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s centre-left Labour Party, as part of a broader reset of ties with European allies following the rancour over London\u2019s departure from the European Union.<\/p>\n
\u2018Entente Amicale\u2019<\/p>\n
Later on Tuesday evening, King Charles hosted a banquet for the Macrons at Windsor Castle, with 160 guests, including politicians, diplomats and celebrities such as Mick Jagger and Elton John.<\/p>\n
Charles used his speech at the opulent state banquet to christen a new era of friendly relations, upgrading the \u201centente cordiale\u201d \u2013 an alliance dating from 1904 that ended centuries of military rivalries \u2013 to an \u201centente amicale\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we dine here in this ancient place, redolent with our shared history, allow me to propose a toast to France and to our new entente. An entente not only past and present, but for the future \u2013 and no longer just cordiale, but now amicale,\u201d the king said.<\/p>\n
The UK and France marked the three-day visit with an announcement that French nuclear energy utility EDF would invest 1.1 billion pounds ($1.5bn) in a nuclear power project in eastern England.<\/p>\n
The two also said France would lend the UK the Bayeux Tapestry, allowing the 11th-century masterpiece to return for the first time in more than 900 years, in exchange for London loaning Paris Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasures.<\/p>\n
Politics will take centre stage on Wednesday, when Macron sits down for talks with Starmer on migration, defence and investment.<\/p>\n
Despite tensions over post-Brexit ties and how to stop asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel in small boats, the UK and France have been working closely to create a planned military force to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.<\/p>\n
The two leaders will dial in to a meeting of the coalition on Thursday \u201cto discuss stepping up support for Ukraine and further increasing pressure on Russia\u201d, Starmer\u2019s office confirmed on Monday.<\/p>\n
They will speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the French presidency.<\/p>\n
Starmer is hoping the UK\u2019s support for Ukraine will help persuade Macron to take a different approach to stopping people smuggling, with London wanting to try out an asylum seekers\u2019 returns deal.<\/p>\n
This would involve the UK deporting one asylum seeker to France in exchange for another with a legitimate case to be in the country. A record number of asylum seekers have arrived in the UK on small boats in the first six months of this year. Starmer, whose party is trailing Nigel Farage\u2019s right-wing Reform UK party in the polls, is under pressure to find a solution.<\/p>\n
France has previously refused to sign such an agreement, saying the UK should negotiate an arrangement with all EU countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"French President Emmanuel Macron has called for British support to recognise the state of Palestine and help defend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,7424,12,7661,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-249753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114821266500661685","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}