British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reacts as he meets with Defense Secretary John Healey and House of Lords MP George Robertson at 10 Downing Street on July 16, 2024 in London, England.
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Oxford, England—Britain’s new Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer On Thursday, Trump will host more than 45 heads of state from across the continent at the birthplace of Winston Churchill as he seeks to repair frayed relations with Europe.
Starmer will tell a European political summit that the challenges facing Europe cannot be dealt with alone and the region must work together to present a united front on security and defence.
“We cannot let recent challenges determine the future of our relationship,” Starmer said in a statement on Wednesday. statement From Downing Street.
“That is why European security will be at the forefront of this administration’s foreign and defense priorities, and why I am focused on seizing this moment to renew our relationship with Europe,” he said.
Starmer will tell attendees in his opening speech at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire that his new British government will play a “more active and greater convening role” on the global stage.
It comes as the specter of Republican candidate Donald Trump’s re-election looms over Europe, with an assassination attempt over the weekend bolstering support for the former president.
Both Trump and his newly announced running mate Vance said that a second Trump administration cannot guarantee continued support for Europe, especially Ukraine. The Republican presidential candidate has repeatedly lambasted the continent’s lack of defense spending and threatened to withdraw from NATO, while Vance has shown ambivalence. U.S. interference in foreign affairs.
As expected, NATO’s European members have been increasing defense spending, including Starmer’s new pledge to spend 2.5% of Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
What is the European Political Community?
Thursday’s meeting is an early opportunity for Starmer to meet with key European allies on home soil, following his participation in last week’s NATO summit in Washington and his election on July 4.
EU leaders 27 member countriesand 20 other heads of state from the region arrived at the historic English country house on Thursday for the day-long EPC summit.
This year, members of NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe also attended the forum for the first time.
This is the fourth time the EPC forum has been held since French President Macron organized it in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The stated goal of the forum is to promote political dialogue and cooperation and strengthen European security, stability and prosperity. Thursday’s meeting includes three roundtables on migration, energy and connectivity, and defending and safeguarding democracy.
The summit has been criticized in the past by some who question the value of creating another political grouping, especially since the last summit in Granada, Spain, ended with few concrete results.
