00:00French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in the United Kingdom,
00:03kicking off the first state visit to the country by an EU leader since Brexit.
00:09The president and his wife were greeted by the Prince and Princess of Wales
00:13before meeting King Charles III and Camilla at Windsor Castle.
00:18Macron's also set to hold several meetings with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer,
00:22which will focus on aid to water on Ukraine,
00:26bolstering defence spending, as well as irregular migration.
00:30Posting to social media shortly after landing,
00:32Macron described the state visit as an important moment for the two countries
00:37and also a significant moment for Europe.
00:40For more on this story, we can cross live to France 24's Benedict Pavio, who's in Westminster.
00:46Benedict, this visit then is being described as a reset of French-British relations.
00:52Tell us more about the significance of this trip and the timing as well.
00:55Well, there are only two state visits a year here in the United Kingdom.
01:03This one is being made by a French president, and that hasn't happened for 17 years.
01:08The last one was with President Sarkozy in 2008.
01:11We covered it, of course, here on France 24.
01:14And that is a very unusual gap.
01:18So that in itself is highly significant.
01:20Of course, it's the first also state visit of a French president and a European leader since Brexit.
01:26Everyone remembers all the reports of the tension between Paris and London, particularly under the premiership of Boris Johnson.
01:37So it did get a bit warmer under Rishi Sunak.
01:40But particularly now, since Keir Starmer's government, the Labour government, has come to power just over a year ago,
01:47that relationship, those relations have got much, much closer.
01:52And, of course, historically, that has been true as well.
01:55We are more than 120 years after the Entente Cordiale.
01:58So very significant.
02:01And what we're going to see on full display, particularly today, on day one of this three-day state visit, is the soft power.
02:08The soft power exemplified, admirer of the world, and certainly exemplified by the king, King Charles III,
02:17who at this moment will be sitting down to lunch with President Macron and his wife Brigitte,
02:22as indeed will be Queen Camilla, and also Kate and William.
02:24Kate and William, the prince and princess of Wales, who greeted the presidential couple at the RAF Northolt base.
02:32Then they went, the president and his wife went into Windsor and switched from a car to a royal cortege with lots of pageantry.
02:42And then after the welcome outside Windsor Castle came the pomp and circumstance and the ceremony and greeting ceremony by the king inside Windsor Castle.
02:52So now a lunch behind closed doors.
02:54Much later on tonight, a banquet where there'll be speeches and toasts.
02:59And the reason for our presence here in Westminster is because just behind me is Parliament.
03:04And this afternoon, President Macron, one of the honours that is given and granted to a world leader who does come and enjoy a state visit,
03:12is to address Parliament.
03:13He'll be doing that to both the lower house and the upper house, so the House of Lords and the House of Commons later on this afternoon.
03:22It'll be very interesting to see.
03:24I think challenges, uncertainty, volatility, shifting power across the world, war on the continent of Europe,
03:31will be some of the things that President Macron, who is going to be making his speech in English,
03:35he speaks fluent English, will be alluding to in that speech.
03:39As you say, Benedict, the day is far from over.
03:43What more are we looking out for then?
03:47Well, we're looking out for all kinds of signals of rapprochement.
03:53And we know that the king, before that, Prince Charles, gets on extremely well with President Macron.
03:59The king was immensely touched and said so very publicly by the reaction of President Macron on behalf of the French people
04:06when Queen Elizabeth II died, of course, came to the funeral as well.
04:12So a lot of real relationship.
04:15A king who is very Francophile, speaks fluent French, who's been to France 35 times, I understand, in his life.
04:22Of course, most of those when he was prince and that very successful 2023 visit, of course, of the king and queen.
04:31So I think the tweet that you were alluding to in your introduction is very significant of President Macron,
04:37as he touched down here in the UK when he talks about the fact that our bond is longstanding, forged by history and strengthened by trust.
04:46Together, we will address the major challenges of our time, security, defence, nuclear energy, space, innovation, artificial intelligence, migration and culture.
04:57These are all areas in which we seek to act together, he says in this tweet, and deepen our cooperation in a concrete, effective and lasting way.
05:06He also says, importantly, this sentence, this is also a significant moment for our Europe.
05:12Because, of course, although there are bilateral strong ties historically between the UK and France,
05:18yes, that really came a cropper around Brexit time and subsequent years.
05:23But now that's really the hope of this visit, is that those bonds will be very much reset.
05:29And that reset is wanted, indeed, was indicated less than two months ago by the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in London itself.
05:38So this is significant for France, for the UK, and it is hoped for Europe.
05:42The subject of migration is really headline news here.
05:46Can a deal be struck during the UK-France summit on Thursday?
