Without them. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss rejected the French proposal to integrate London into a new “European political community” in an interview published on Friday. “My preference is to build on structures that already exist and are working successfully, whether it’s the G7 or NATO,” Ms. Truss told Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera when asked about the feasibility of a such “European architecture”.
French President Emmanuel Macron had estimated on May 9 in Berlin that the United Kingdom could have “its full place” in a new European “political community” which he calls for to welcome countries close but not members of the European Union (EU).
“We are working very well across the G7 plus the EU”
This new entity “is also perhaps a way to regain stability and another form of cooperation with countries like the United Kingdom”, which left the EU in 2020, he added. “We are working very well through the G7 plus the EU to impose sanctions on Russia. We are working very well with European countries to supply the defense of Ukraine,” Ms. Truss explained.
“We have the Joint Expeditionary Force (a defense agreement) with the Scandinavians (…) and we are working with allies like Italy on a trade and investment agreement and a broad bilateral agreement,” adds she, concluding: “We think these flexible agreements that we have are working very well: we are happy with them”.
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