WOODSTOCK, England (AP) — European leaders expressed support for Ukraine and concern about U.S. moves at a security-focused summit on Thursday, shadowed by concerns about whether the United States can remain a reliable ally if Donald Trump is re-elected.
The newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Trump hosted about 45 government leaders at his grand mansion in the English countryside to discuss immigration, energy security and the Russian threat as he seeks to repair ties with Britain and its European Union neighbours four years after his acrimonious divorce.
The venue is European Political Community The summit will be held at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of British World War II prime minister Winston Churchill, and Starmer said the two leaders met “as a new storm looms on the continent”.
“Our first task here today is to reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine and to say that we are once again united around the values we hold dear, and that we will stand together against aggression on this continent,” Starmer said, adding that the threat from Russia “reaches all of Europe”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was the chief guest at the conference, which aimed to discuss ways to strengthen European support for Ukraine’s defense and protect democracy from cyberattacks, disinformation and sabotage that Ukraine’s allies blame on Moscow.
Zelenskiy is due to address a meeting of Starmer’s Cabinet on Friday, a rare move for a foreign leader, as Starmer seeks to show the Labour government is committed to continuing the support for Kiev that began under his Conservative predecessors.
Among those visiting Blenheim Palace, a Baroque country mansion 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of London, were German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Macron’s brainchild, the EPC Established in 2022 The next three summits are due to be held in Hungary, Albania and Denmark as a forum for countries both inside and outside the EU27, in the wake of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine that has shattered Europe’s sense of security.
Starmer’s centre-left government is seeking to rebuild ties with the EU, strained by years of bitter disputes over the terms of Britain’s Brexit exit. A top priority is a new security pact between Britain and the EU, which Starmer wants to secure quickly.
European Council President Charles Michel said on his arrival that he was “confident that a new chapter is beginning with the UK”.
Starmer said the UK A more active role on the world stageHe told other leaders that under his administration Britain would be “a friend and a partner and ready to work with you. We may not be part of the European Union, but we are part of Europe.”
He promised that “we will never withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights”, something the previous Conservative government had hinted at, to the consternation of Britain’s European allies.
Britain will cooperate more closely with the European police agency Europol on tackling smuggling as part of measures to tighten border security following Starmer’s decision. Abolish the Conservative government’s controversial and unrealized plans Migrants arriving in the UK will be sent one-way by boat to Rwanda.
Starmer called the Rwanda plan a “plot” and called on European countries to work together to tackle “despicable human trafficking”.
“Frankly, ‘challenge’ is the wrong word,” he said. “I think we’re at a crisis point. We’ve got to pool our resources, we’ve got to share intelligence, we’ve got to share tactics, we’ve got to cut off smuggling routes, we’ve got to destroy the gangs.”
Mr Starmer and Mr Macron had dinner together on Thursday night to discuss what can be done to stop thousands of migrants making the perilous journey across the English Channel from France each year.
At the end of the day-long summit, Starmer said there was broad agreement on “solving the migration crisis” but acknowledged it would take time.
“Two weeks ago today, we were still going door to door and encouraging people to vote. You can’t turn things around that fast,” he told a news conference.
When Britain agreed to hold the one-day summit earlier this year, the Conservative leader Rishi Sunak He was the prime minister. 4th of July Election So it was Starmer who welcomed the world leaders to Blenheim Palace, and for him it was an important moment of getting to know each other.
Delegates were treated to quintessential British hospitality, including strawberries with cream and a reception hosted by King Charles III, and mingled informally in the “Leaders’ Lounge” and the palace’s gorgeous gardens.
A lot of thoughts came to mind in America over the weekend. Assassination attempt The criticism of Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, underscored how heated and polarized politics has become ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
President Trump’s skepticism about NATO has long unsettled U.S. allies. Senator J.D. Vance, Concerns are growing over the nomination of an opponent of U.S. military aid to Ukraine as a vice presidential candidate.
“European countries must become more independent than ever before,” said Dutch Prime Minister Dick Shoaf.
This sentiment was echoed by other leaders, but not by pro-Russian elements in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbanhas infuriated other EU countries with a series of lawless meetings with foreign leaders, including Russian President Putin, over Ukraine.
Orban said Trump’s victory was “great news for everyone because he is on the side of the people.”
Zelensky was apparently referring to Orban when he called on European countries to remain united.
“If someone wants to go to the war capital several times to talk and promise something that is supposedly against our common interests or at the expense of Ukraine and other countries, why should we consider such a person? The EU and NATO can also deal with all their problems without this person,” Zelensky said.
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Sylvain Plazy contributed to this article from Brussels.
