The Speaker
Friday, 29 March 2024 – 05:55

French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Boris Johnson on anniversary of famous wartime speech

The French President Emmanuel Macron has met with Boris Johnson in Downing Street today to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the famous De Gaulle speech.

The two leaders marked the 80th anniversary of the wartime broadcast on the BBC in which French General Charles de Gaulle urged people in France to resist the Nazi occupation of the country. The leaders also reflected on the sacrifices made by the British and French people in the Second World War and the lasting strong relationship between the two countries.

On Thursday, Mr Macron was greeted by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in London – at a 2m distance in accordance with the current Coronavirus regulations in the UK. The president arrived at an RAF base in West London and was exempt from the current quarantine rules in effect for UK arrivals, due to him being a representative of a foreign country on business.

The Red Arrows and their French counterparts La Partouille were also seen by some during a flypast over the skies of London.

The two leaders additionally used the visit to discuss post-Brexit UK-EU negotiations, and Mr Johnson reiterated that the UK does not believe that it makes sense for negotiations to be prolonged into the autumn.

The UK is currently in a transition period until December 31, 2020, following its formal departure from the European Union on January 31 this year. The UK has long said that it does not intend to agree to an extension of the transition period. 

 

Photo Credit: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street under licence (CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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