German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) is welcomed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he attends the European Political Community Summit at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, England, July 18, 2024.
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OXFORD, England — Britain’s new Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted more than 45 heads of state from across the continent on Thursday at the birthplace of Winston Churchill as he sought to repair fractured 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 top 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 expressed ambivalence about 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 was an early opportunity for Starmer to meet with key European allies back home, following his attendance at 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 are also attending the forum for the first time.
This is the fourth EPC forum since French President Emmanuel Macron organized it in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The stated aim of the forum is to promote political dialogue and cooperation and to enhance security, stability and prosperity in Europe. Thursday’s meeting includes three roundtables on migration, energy and connectivity, and defending and safeguarding democracy.
However, discussions around a new post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal will not be on the table, with Foreign Secretary David Lamy telling BBC Breakfast earlier on Thursday that the two sides were “nowhere near” agreeing such a deal. The agreement “is still far away”.
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.
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