What has Macron's London visit achieved?
On a state visit to Britain, France's President Macron has agreed to launch a pilot project for returning migrants across the Channel. Some of the refugees who have reached the UK by boat are to be sent back to France in return for accepting other migrants with a strong case for asylum. The two nuclear powers also want to expand their military cooperation.
Visiting friends
The significance of Macron's visit goes well beyond the migrant deal, The Times points out:
“It also signifies a return of close diplomacy with France after an era in which relations, strained by Brexit, were further imperilled by the unserious political style of Boris Johnson and the tactless equivocation of Liz Truss. ... The two nations have now pledged greater military collaboration, including a readiness to co-ordinate their use of nuclear weapons. That is to be celebrated: in an unpredictable era of burgeoning Russian aggression, it is imperative that countries with shared values stick together.”
Major imbalance in interests
The much-heralded "one in, one out" deal aimed at stemming small boat crossings in the Channel does not look convincing to The Independent.
“It raises many questions both about how it will work in practice and whether it will function as any sort of deterrent at all. First, it is no more than a pilot project. ... And where one side is hyper-keen for the arrangement to work, and the other side – France – perhaps rather less so, the fragility of the terms should be clear. Second, in the same vein, there is a major imbalance in political interests here. The UK government needs to show that it is getting a grip on the boats. ... And this means, third, that the boats are fundamentally a UK problem.”
Fundamental similiarites
For all their major differences there are some fundamental similarities, the Financial Times points out:
“Britain and France have almost exactly the same population, a similar GDP and therefore more or less equal per capita income. Both have a disproportionately huge capital – a 'primate city', in the jargon – as a result of being unified and centralised states for centuries longer than Germany or Italy. ... But the most important similarity is that, while much of postwar Europe told itself that it had transcended such archaic things as hard power, Britain and France never did. They remain the only nuclear states in democratic Europe.”