The first Franco-British summit meeting in five years has become a fact.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in Paris today, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron.

There are many topics on the agenda of the British leader: Ukrainian, immigration, bilateral Franco-British relations in the shadow of Brexit, the Sino-Russian approach, etc.

Freed from some of the “burden” of the recent past (a “burden” that many associate, in particular, with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself), Franco-British relations seem to be entering a reset phase.

It is no coincidence that the phase under consideration comes a few weeks after the agreement on Northern Ireland, signed by the British Government and the Commission at Windsor.

“It’s time for a new start“, – said the President of France today during a press conference at the Elysee Palace, next to him was the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

“Relations between our countries have faced problems in recent years. […] Today we are taking our cooperation to an unprecedented level,” said Rishi Sunak.

Earlier today, Macron and Sunak reached an agreement aimed at stemming the flow of illegal migration across the English Channel.

As part of this agreement, as it became known, the UK is going to provide France with approximately 480 million pounds over the next three years to cover part of the cost of increased patrols and control in the English Channel by France. In the same context, the British will co-finance the creation of new detention centers and the installation of sophisticated surveillance systems in France. And all this in order to limit the movement of immigrants passing in small boats from French to English shores.

According to Reuters