British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak affirms his desire to “cooperate closely” with France

It was the first time they had met. The British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, newly in power After the resignation of Liz Truss October 20, spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday November 7 on the sidelines of COP27 in Egypt. Rishi Sunak said he wanted “cooperate closely” with France on immigration, Downing Street confirming that an agreement on the issue was being finalized.

“It was great to meet President Macron to talk not only about the fight against illegal immigration, but also about other areas in which we want to cooperate closely with the French”, said the British leader. Emmanuel Macron and Rishi Sunak had already decided during a telephone interview at the end of October to cooperate more on immigration, while nearly 40,000 people have already risked their lives crossing the Channel on small boats since the start of the crisis. year, a record.

This is a “complex problem” who “not going to be solved overnight”, stressed Rishi Sunak as his teams come under pressure to manage the influx of migrants, with recent revelations of an overcrowded reception center and the throwing of incendiary devices at another center near Dover. “I think there is an opportunity to seize to work together, not only with the French but with other countries as well”, estimated the British Prime Minister, specifying that he would give more details “in the next weeks”.

For its part, however, the Elysée simply affirmed that the two leaders would “stay in contact to advance coordination between the two countries in the face of the challenge of irregular migration”. Emmanuel Macron also invited Rishi Sunak to a conference on Ukraine on December 13 in Paris.