Europe’s leaders gathered at an English country mansion Thursday for 24-hours of talks designed to address illegal migration flooding the Continent ahead of more talks due later in the year on the same pressing topic.
Newly elected left-wing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is welcoming some 45 heads of government to discuss the issue as well as energy security and the threat from Russia.
AP reports the government confirmed he’ll tell the European Political Community gathering the U.K. plans to “take a more active and greater convening role on the world stage,” especially by helping Ukraine fight Russia’s invasion and working to crack down on the people-smuggling gangs organizing illegal migration.
“We will only be able to secure our borders, drive economic growth and defend our democracies if we work together,” Starmer said, without offering any firm details on how those goals will be achieved.
“We cannot let the challenges of the recent past define our relationships of the future,” Starmer continued. “That is why European security will be at the forefront of this government’s foreign and defense priorities, and why I am focused on seizing this moment to renew our relationship with Europe.”
Britain agreed earlier this year to hold the one-day summit, Conservative leader Rishi Sunak was prime minister.
Migrants are brought into Dover Port by Border Force officials after being picked up in the English Channel while trying to make the journey from France in inflatable dinghies on April 23, 2024 in Dover, England. (Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)
His defeat in a July 4 election means it’s Starmer who will welcome leaders to Blenheim Palace, a Baroque country house that was the birthplace of World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
The guest list includes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
The U.K. hopes this will be the best-attended summit to date, though E.U. chief Ursula von der Leyen is staying away as she fights to secure a second term as European Commission president from lawmakers in the European Parliament, the AP report makes clear.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also is not expected to attend.
The next European Migration Forum (EMF) designed to tackle more means of addressing illegal migration and defeating people smugglers is not set to take place until the end of October.