Britain and France seek symbolic reset, analyst says ahead of Macron's state visit

Record ID: 1987465

  • Title: Britain and France seek symbolic reset, analyst says ahead of Macron's state visit
  • Date: 7th July 2025
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED (JULY 3, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSOCIATE FELLOW AT CHATHAM HOUSE'S EUROPE PROGRAMME, SEBASTIEN MAILLARD, SAYING: "The main area, the most, I think, obvious one and the one that would be really put forward is about on defence. We're talking about two countries that share more or less the same capacity in terms of industrial weapons ma
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: BRITAIN CONFLICT DEFENCE FRANCE MACRON MIGRATION RUSSIA STARMER SUMMIT TRUMP UK UKRAINE US
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA003740504072025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Britain and France are poised for a symbolic reset during an upcoming state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Britain, an analyst said.
    Macron is due to arrive in London for a three-day state visit on Tuesday (July 8), where he is expected to meet King Charles, speak at parliament and take part in a UK-France summit with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
    "I believe that the timing, of course, it's very important because it comes at a moment where, well, there's a need, I think, to catch up after the damage done to the bilateral relationship after the Brexit negotiations," Sebastien Maillard, an associate fellow at Chatham House, said.
    Ties between France and Britain have improved since Starmer took office last year, brought closer by shared concerns over Russian aggression toward Ukraine and the need to re-arm Europe as U.S. President Donald Trump plots a more isolationist position for the world's largest economy.
    During the summit the two leaders are also expected to discuss measures to tackle a growing number of Channel crossings by migrants.
    (Production: Marissa Davison, Vitalii Yalahuzian)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register