German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) is welcomed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, England, on July 18, 2024.
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Oxford, England — Britain’s new Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer President Trump is hosting more than 45 heads of state from across Europe at Winston Churchill’s birthplace on Thursday as he seeks to repair fractured relations with Europe.
Speaking at a European political summit, Starmer is expected to say Europe cannot face the challenges it faces alone and urge the region to work together on security and defence.
“We cannot allow the challenges of the recent past to define our future relationship,” Starmer said in a speech on Wednesday. statement From Downing Street.
“That is why European security will be at the forefront of this Administration’s foreign policy and defense priorities, and why I am committed to seizing this opportunity to rebuild our relationship with Europe,” he said.
In his opening speech at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, Starmer will tell attendees that the new government will take on a “more active and greater convening role” on the world stage.
It comes as fears hang over Europe that Republican candidate Donald Trump could become president again after an assassination attempt last weekend boosted support for the former president.
Trump and his newly announced running mate, J.D. Vance, have suggested that continued support for Europe, especially Ukraine, is not guaranteed under a second Trump administration. While the Republican presidential candidate has repeatedly criticized the continent for underspending on defense and threatened to withdraw from NATO, Vance said: US Diplomatic Intervention.
In anticipation, European Nato allies have increased their defence spending, and Starmer has also made a new commitment to spend 2.5% of the UK’s gross domestic product on defence.
For Starmer, Thursday’s meeting will be an early opportunity for him to meet key European allies at home, following his attendance at a NATO summit in Washington last week and the July 4 election.
European Union 27 member countriesand 20 other heads of state from across the region, arrived on Thursday to attend the one-day EPC summit at the historic English country house.
This year, for the first time, the forum will also include member states of NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe.
This will be the fourth EPC Forum since it was conceived by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The forum’s stated aim is to promote political dialogue and cooperation and strengthen security, stability and prosperity in Europe. Thursday’s sessions will include three roundtables on migration, energy and connectivity, and defending and securing democracy.
But talks over a new post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal will not be on the agenda, with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy telling BBC Breakfast early on Thursday that the two countries were “nowhere near” such a deal.
The summit has drawn criticism in the past from those who question the value of forming a new political grouping, especially after a previous one in Granada, Spain, ended with few tangible results.
