SANDHURST: Britain and France on Thursday signed a new deal to boost border security after a request by French President Emmanuel Macron, concerned at the number of migrants in Calais trying to reach British shores.
The two sides agreed on the “signature of a new treaty to strengthen the management of our shared border,” according to a joint statement following a summit between Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
At a press conference with Macron following the summit, May said that Britain and France “remain committed to the principles of the long-standing Le Touquet agreement” which was signed in 2003.
But she said “additional measures” had now been agreed for Calais and other border points, as Britain pledged an additional £44.5 million (50 million euros, $62 million) for border security in France.
The funding will go toward fencing, CCTV and detection technology, May said.
Macron called the agreement the “Sandhurst Treaty,” and said it would improve management of the border as the two leaders held talks at the Sandhurst military academy, southwest of London.
“What the people in Calais are going through is not satisfactory and that is the reason why our interior ministers have signed today in our presence a new treaty,” Macron said.
Britain and France agree new border security deal
Britain and France agree new border security deal
Rubio meets Orbán in Budapest as US and Hungary are to sign a civilian nuclear pact
- Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader’s bid for reelection in two months
BUDAPEST, Hungary: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the Hungarian capital on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government during which they plan to sign a civilian-nuclear cooperation agreement heralded by US President Donald Trump.
Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader’s bid for reelection in two months. Orbán and his Fidesz party are facing their most serious challenge in the April 12 vote since the right-wing populist retook power in 2010.
The stop in Hungary’s capital follows Rubio’s visit to Slovakia on Sunday, after he previously attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Led by Euroskeptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and vocally back Trump, Slovakia and Hungary represent friendly territory for Rubio as he pushes to shore up energy agreements with both Central European countries.
Widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most reliable advocate in the European Union, Orbán has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite its war against Ukraine while currying favor with Trump and his MAGA — short for the 2016 Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” — movement.
Many in MAGA and the broader conservative world view Hungary as a shining example of successful conservative nationalism, despite the erosion of its democratic institutions and its status as one of the EU’s poorest countries.
In a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month, Trump endorsed Orbán for the coming elections and called him a “truly strong and powerful Leader” and “a true friend, fighter, and WINNER.”
Trump has praised Orbán’s firm opposition to immigration, exemplified by a fence his government erected on Hungary’s southern border in 2015 as hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Other US conservatives admire Orbán’s hostility to LGBTQ+ rights. His government last year banned the popular Budapest Pride celebration and allowed facial recognition technology to be used to identify anyone participating despite the ban. It has also effectively banned same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage, and disallowed transgender individuals from changing their sex in official documents.
Orbán has remained firmly committed to purchasing Russian energy despite efforts by the EU to wean off such supplies, and received an exemption from US sanctions on Russian energy after a November meeting in the White House with Trump.
Apparently trusting that his political and personal affinity with the US leader could pay even greater dividends, Orbán and his government have sought to woo Trump to Hungary before the pivotal April 12 elections — hoping such a high-profile visit and endorsement would push Orbán, who is trailing in most polls, over the finish line.
Budapest has hosted several annual iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and another was hastily rescheduled this year to fall in March, just before Hungary’s elections.
