Are Britain and France at the dawn of a new Entente Cordiale? It’s reported that France will be the destination for the first state visit of King Charles, and in New York this week Liz Truss and Emmanuel Macron took a break from the UN General Assembly for 30 minutes of ‘constructive’ talks.
There are many in France who long for a closer relationship with Britain and, at the same time, for a gradual decoupling from Germany.
I wrote in April last year of the growing French scepticism towards Germany; of how in the words of one current affairs magazine, France has for decades been ‘fleeced’ by its eastern neighbour economically.
Rare were the politicians who pointed this out. One exception, Marine Le Pen, a long-standing critic of Germany, declared in 2021 that were she ever to become president she would seek a ‘divorce’ from the Franco-Germany couple in favour of establishing a closer relationship with Britain.
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