Hopes fade of Anglo-French summit to repair fractious relationship between Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron after France ‘refuses to set a date’ amid UK anger at figures in Paris ‘crossing the street to pick a fight every day’
- British diplomats have been trying to arrange talks between two world leaders
- But French officials said to be refusing to agree a date for the bilateral summit
- UK is angry at French figures ‘crossing the street to pick a fight every day’
- Relationship between Paris and London has deteriorated after series of rows
Diplomatic efforts to repair the strained relationship between the UK and France have stalled as attempts to organise a face-to-face summit between Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron have failed to make progress.
Officials are said to have been working on getting a date in the diary for the two world leaders to meet in person to discuss increasing co-operation.
But The Times said French figures are refusing to agree a date, with some in Paris of the view that there is ‘no point’ in holding talks.
Meanwhile, UK sources are angry at some elements of the Macron administration because they believe they are ‘crossing the street to pick a fight every day’.
Diplomatic efforts to repair the strained relationship between the UK and France have stalled as attempts to organise a face-to-face summit between Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron have failed to make progress
French figures are reportedly refusing to agree a date, with some in Paris of the view that there is ‘no point’ in holding talks
Anglo-French relations have deteriorated in recent months after a series of explosive rows.
One senior diplomatic source told the newspaper: ‘The Government has reached out to try to arrange a summit but the French aren’t interested.
‘They’ve simply said there’s no point.’
Anglo-French summits have been taking place roughly every two years with the most recent edition in January 2018.
Lord Ricketts, the UK’s former ambassador to France, said Mr Macron will be in ‘no great hurry’ to agree to a summit because ‘he doesn’t know what the man [Mr Johnson] might say at the joint press conference’.
Both sides of the Channel now admit that levels of trust between the two nations have fallen to their lowest point in recent history.
The recent rows between the UK and France have spanned numerous subjects, with many continuing to rumble on.
Earlier this year there was a confrontation over post-Brexit fishing rights relating to access for French boats off the coast of Jersey.
That saw threats from Paris to cut off the island’s electricity supply, prompting Mr Johnson to send Royal Navy ships to the area.
There have also been points of conflict over cross-Channel migration, vaccine supplies and coronavirus travel rules.
Mr Johnson and Mr Macron held a bilateral meeting at the G7 summit in Cornwall in June as a row raged over post-Brexit border rules in Northern Ireland.
Mr Macron prompted fury after it was briefed that he had suggested that Northern Ireland was not part of the same country as the UK.
French figures were left fuming at the disclosure from the private talks and insisted the French President’s remarks had been misinterpreted.
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