LONDON: UK leader Keir Starmer heads to Brussels on Wednesday for the first time as prime minister, looking to build on a promised “reset” of relations with the European Union that were strained by Brexit.
Starmer will hold his first formal meeting with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen since his Labour party ousted the Conservatives from power in a general election in July.
It is a further sign of new British goodwill toward European neighbors following the UK’s rancorous 2020 departure from the bloc under Brexit champion Boris Johnson.
But Starmer is also under pressure to be more precise about what exactly he wants for Britain from the EU — and what he is willing to give in return.
“It’s symbolic of this great blowing away of the fog that’s been across the Channel,” professor Richard Whitman, an EU expert at the University of Kent, said.
“But I think it’s also probably the prelude to a reality check on the side of the UK that it’s going to be a long old slog if you’re going to get anything worth boasting about in terms of improving the relationship.”
Starmer’s Brussels sojourn follows recent bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian premier Giorgia Meloni.
In July, he hosted dozens of leaders at the European Political Community meeting in July and pledged to rebuild bridges with Europe.
Downing Street said Starmer will use the Brussels trip to discuss “his ambitions for the next few months” with von der Leyen and other EU leaders.
Ahead of the visit, he said he was “so determined to put the Brexit years behind us and establish a more pragmatic and mature relationship” with the EU.
Starmer, who voted in the 2016 referendum to remain in the EU, has insisted that his reset will not mean reversing Brexit, which remains a politically toxic subject in the UK.
Instead, Labour wants improvements to the existing Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the UK and the EU that is due for renewal in 2026.
These include negotiating a new security pact with the 27-member bloc, a veterinary agreement to ease border checks on farm produce and mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
But Starmer has put forward little detail, while also laying down red lines for any negotiations, pledging no return to the European single market or customs union, or any return to freedom of movement.
“Starmer has to present the plan,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
Starmer has also poured cold water on the EU’s big proposal so far — a youth mobility scheme for 18- to 30-year-olds.
Brexit ended the free movement of EU citizens to live and work in Britain, and vice versa.
The EU would like younger people from its member countries to be able to move freely in the UK.
But Starmer has rejected the idea over fears it looks too much like freedom of movement. The interior ministry is resistant to anything that increases levels of legal migration.
The EU’s ambassador to the UK, Pedro Serrano, played down the notion that the proposal was a stumbling block last week, when he likened it to a “gap year” that would not give EU citizens the right to work in Britain.
Analysts say Labour could be tempted by a limited exchange program if it helps to achieve its overarching objective of boosting economic growth.
Starmer met von der Leyen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month.
According to European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer, Wednesday’s meeting “will simply be the beginning of a conversation.”
An EU diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity insisted the chat would focus on “broad brushstrokes,” with nothing concrete expected from it.
“The general feeling is that yes, there’s a positive mood, yes, we need to keep on implementing the current agreements and yes, there may be areas where there could be the possibility for structured cooperation.
“But a lot of work would need to go in to defining how anything could work,” the diplomat said.
UK’s Starmer faces calls for detail on trumpeted EU ‘reset’ plans
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UK’s Starmer faces calls for detail on trumpeted EU ‘reset’ plans
- UK leader under pressure to be more precise about what exactly he wants for Britain from the EU — and what he is willing to give in return
Australia charges woman over pro-Hezbollah protest
- Other attendees at the pro-Palestine protests, which took place in Sydney and Melbourne last week, also waved Hamas flags or placards with slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
“She was arrested and charged with cause public display of prohibited terrorists organization symbol,” said New South Wales Police.
Other attendees at the pro-Palestine protests, which took place in Sydney and Melbourne last week, also waved Hamas flags or placards with slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The protest has divided politicians, police and community leaders on what constitutes free speech or illegal activity.
Authorities remain on high alert ahead of two planned protests this week that will mark the one year anniversary since the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel that triggered the Gaza conflict.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday the two protests — set for October 6 and 7 — should not go ahead and that any demonstration would be seen “as incredibly provocative.”
“It would not advance any cause. It would cause a great deal of distress,” he told national broadcaster ABC. Albanese added he would attend a vigil instead.
Police have indicated they would seek to stop the demonstrations from going ahead.
New South Wales Police said Tuesday despite discussions with organizers, they were “not satisfied that the protest can proceed safely” and had decided to apply to the NSW Supreme court to prohibit them.
The matter will be heard in court later this week.
Protest organizers, the Palestine Action Group Sydney, said the police action was “an attack on fundamental democratic rights.”
“We intend on defending our right to protest and are determined to continue standing for justice for Palestine and Lebanon,” the group said in a statement.
Three killed in India helicopter crash
NEW DELHI: A private helicopter crashed in western India on Wednesday, killing three people on board, a fire official said.
The chopper burst into flames in hilly terrain after crashing on the outskirts of Pune city, southeast of financial hub Mumbai, at around 6:45 am (0115 GMT).
Two pilots and an engineer died in the crash, chief fire officer Devendra Potphode told reporters.
“When we reached the spot, we saw that the chopper had crashed and all its parts were scattered,” he said.
“We were able to extract three casualties, and these were handed over to the police.”
The helicopter had been chartered by the opposition Nationalist Congress Party and was headed to Mumbai.
While the cause of the crash has not yet been identified, local media reports said there was dense fog in the area at the time.
China’s Xi congratulates new Japan PM Ishiba
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping has congratulated new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, state media reported Wednesday, the day after he took office in Tokyo.
Relations between the countries have worsened as China builds its military presence around disputed territories in the region, and as Japan boosts security ties with the United States and its allies.
Xinhua news agency said that Xi on Tuesday told Ishiba he hoped the “neighbors separated by a strip of water” could find common ground to “build a constructive and stable” relationship.
“It is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples to follow the path of peaceful coexistence, friendship for all generations, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development,” Xi told Ishiba, according to Xinhua.
Japan and China have had diplomatic relations for more than 50 years, but the key trading partners have seen ties sour significantly.
Beijing last week reacted angrily and lodged a complaint with Tokyo after a Japanese warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time.
The United States and its allies are increasingly crossing through the 180-kilometer (112-mile) Taiwan Strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, vexing China.
Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China was “highly vigilant about the political intentions of Japan’s actions.”
Japan’s new Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Wednesday that Tokyo also wanted a “constructive and stable relationship” with China based on common interests.
But “what we need to assert will be asserted,” and “as a major country, we seek China to behave responsibly,” said Iwaya, who was nominated by Ishiba on Tuesday.
“We are seeing attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in the East Asia region, so we need to build a system that can firmly deter such attempts,” Iwaya added.
The minister said he hoped to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi “as soon as possible” for “frank exchanges and dialogue,” but a date had not yet been decided.
Nerves are running high in Japan on national security matters following the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into Japanese airspace in August.
A Chinese aircraft carrier also recently steamed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, and the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has further frayed ties.
Ishiba, 67, visited Taiwan in August and backs the creation in the region of a military alliance along the lines of NATO, with its tenet of collective defense.
He outlined his policies at a news conference late Tuesday, warning that “the security environment surrounding our country is the most severe since the end of World War II.”
Beijing and Tokyo were at loggerheads last year after Japan began discharging treated water from the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean — an operation the UN atomic agency said was safe.
But the release generated a fierce backlash from China, which branded it “selfish” and banned all Japanese seafood imports.
However, China last month said it would “gradually resume” importing the seafood.
Ukraine says it downed 11 drones during Russia’s overnight attack
KYIV: Ukraine’s forces destroyed 11 out of 32 Russian attack drones launched overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Wednesday.
Another four drones left Ukrainian airspace in the direction of Russia and 10 drones were lost in northern and central Ukrainian regions as a result of electronic warfare countermeasures, it said.
Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian Izmail district near the Danube river in the southern Odesa region, local governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messenger.
“The Russians targeted the port and border infrastructure,” Kiper said, adding that two lorry drivers, including a Turkish citizen, were injured.
He said the Ukrainian-Romanian crossing of Orlivka had temporarily suspended crossing operations due to the shelling.
France sends assets to Middle East, convenes UN Security Council
PARIS: France said on Wednesday it was sending additional military resources to the Middle East to tackle the Iranian threat and convened a United Nations Security Council meeting for later in the day after Tehran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel.
Iran said early on Wednesday that its missile attack on Israel was finished barring further provocation, while Israel and the US promised to retaliate against Tehran’s assault as fears of a wider war intensified.
“Committed to Israel’s security, France today mobilized its military resources in the Middle East to counter the Iranian threat,” the French presidency said in a statement overnight after an emergency security cabinet meeting to discuss the regional escalation.
“The head of state also reiterated France’s demand that Hezbollah cease its terrorist actions against Israel and its population.”
It gave no details on what additional military assets had been sent to the region and the defense ministry was not immediately available for comment.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke with his US counterpart Antony Blinken to coordinate diplomatic efforts, the ministry said.
Paris and Washington last week had attempted to secure a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon just hours before Israel launched air strikes that killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
The foreign ministry said it had convened a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in the Middle East on Wednesday afternoon.
The French presidency said it would also organize soon a conference in support of Lebanon and had asked the foreign minister to travel to the region to work on diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions.
“Attentive to the security and protection of our compatriots in Lebanon and the Middle East, the head of state requested that all necessary measures be taken to assist them and, if necessary, come to their aid,” the presidency added.
France on Monday deployed a helicopter carrier to the region to position itself in case an evacuation order was given.
