British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrived in Paris on Friday for talks with President Emmanuel Macron. Among other things, Macron and Sunak want to talk about illegal immigration across the English Channel to Great Britain, an ongoing conflict between the two countries. London accuses Paris of not controlling the English Channel sufficiently.
In 2022, nearly 45,000 migrants crossed the river from France to England illegally in boats. France, for its part, had sharply criticized the planned tightening of asylum law in Great Britain.
It is the first Franco-British top flight in five years. Relations between the two countries had suffered during the previous two prime ministers, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, largely because of a defense pact struck between Britain, the US and Australia that torpedoed a French submarine deal.
Both sides are interested in opening a new chapter in bilateral relations after the tensions of recent years. Among other things, closer cooperation in defense is planned.