UK prime minister Keir Starmer has said his Labour government wants to put Britain’s relationship with the European Union back on a “stable, positive footing”, after years of Brexit tensions.
Mr Starmer travelled to Brussels on Wednesday to meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, president of the European Council.
Speaking before his sit-down with Dr von der Leyen, Mr Starmer said the British public wanted a return to “pragmatic sensible leadership” when it came to relations with the UK’s closest neighbours.
This would mean making “Brexit work”, delivering economic growth, strengthening security and tackling “shared challenges like irregular migration and climate change”, he said. “We are determined to put this relationship back on a stable, positive footing,” he said.
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Dr von der Leyen said like-minded partners such as the EU and UK had to co-operate more closely in the current “uncertain” times. “That is what we are doing when it comes to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” she said.
The German politician said the EU and UK worked together on sanctions targeting Russia, and providing funding to Ukraine. “European security concerns us all, in and outside the European Union,” she said.
The two sides were also “strongly aligned” on the fight against climate change, all of which provided a “good foundation” for the future relationship, Dr von der Leyen said.
“We have a set of solid agreements in place, we should explore the scope for more co-operation while we focus on the full and faithful implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Windsor Framework, and the TCA [Trade and Cooperation Agreement],” she said.
The UK prime minister’s meetings in Brussels come at a time when the new Labour government has raised hopes for a reset of previous tense relations with the EU.
Separately, Dr von der Leyen condemned Iran’s recent missile attacks on Israel, which followed the start of an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon. “The spiral of violence is threatening the lives of innocent civilians, it is also leading to a generalised conflict in the region and this must be avoided at all costs,” she said.
“The European Union continues to call for a ceasefire across the border with Lebanon ... and the border in Gaza and we will keep calling for the release of all hostages as we have done for almost a year now,” she said.
Mr Starmer echoed the condemnation of the Iranian missile attacks, stating Israel had a “full right” to security and self defence. “We do need to pull back from the brink and encourage all parties to find a way to de-escalate and for a political solution to the very many fronts of the crisis in the Middle East,” he said.
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