- 7/9/2025
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a candid and wide-ranging speech in the UK Parliament during his historic state visit. From pledging unwavering support to Ukraine, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and urging France and Britain to protect the post-WWII international order — to cracking unexpected jokes and addressing Brexit tensions — Macron's speech had it all.
Watch the full speech and catch all the key moments, commentary, and reactions from this high-stakes diplomatic visit.
#Macron #UKParliament #Gaza #Ukraine #Brexit #FranceUK #MacronSpeech #GlobalPolitics #WorldNews #MacronInUK #MacronVisit #Geopolitics #StateVisit #BritishPolitics #InternationalRelations
~PR.274~HT.408~ED.346~GR.124~
Watch the full speech and catch all the key moments, commentary, and reactions from this high-stakes diplomatic visit.
#Macron #UKParliament #Gaza #Ukraine #Brexit #FranceUK #MacronSpeech #GlobalPolitics #WorldNews #MacronInUK #MacronVisit #Geopolitics #StateVisit #BritishPolitics #InternationalRelations
~PR.274~HT.408~ED.346~GR.124~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. Prime Minister, Madam, Honourable Ministers, Mr. Speaker, Lord Speaker,
00:28Honourable Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,
00:38I would like to thank you, Speaker, for your kind words and greatly appreciate everyone's
00:44warm welcome. On behalf of my wife, Brigitte, and myself and my whole delegation, thank
00:50you very much for that. And it is a very great honour to speak before the two Houses of the
00:56British Parliament. A place composed of both a high chamber and a low chamber, a place
01:04of history bygone and history in the making. A place where modern democracy emerged and
01:12the principles of democratic representation and consent were born. In making its own rules,
01:20your great people has inspired among the rest of the world. And in particular, my compatriots
01:27will regard you with respect, with more than a bit of admiration. In France, Montesquieu and
01:35Rousseau drew from the works of Locke to such an extent that the letters philosophic by Rousseau
01:42are often referred to as letters on the English in my country. But please, do not misunderstand
01:51me. I am not going so far as to say that England gave birth to the French Revolution. However,
02:01I have to confess that we love monarchy, especially when it is not at home. But I really believe
02:10that from the Magna Carta to America's Declaration of Independence in 1976 and France's Declaration
02:17of the Rights of France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens in 1789, a same pathway
02:24emerged towards democratic order and the rule of law. And so many times this shared path was
02:32forged in the brotherhood of arms. So many times it followed the small trails of the Ardennes
02:38and the Vosges mountains under the hail of German bullets from 1914 to 1918. So many times it almost
02:49veered off course, taken up by our common ancestors, reconquering the Normandy coast inch by inch
02:55under the glaring sun of June 1944. And I would like to thank Prime Minister Starmer, dear Kier, for attending the
03:05ceremonies of the ceremonies of the 11th of November last year, honoring our fallen soldiers, the
03:12British Red Poppy alongside the Bleuets de France, becoming the first British head of government to
03:19spend Armistice Day in Paris in 80 years. Thank you.
03:24The French people shall never forget the sacrifices the British people made to protect Europe and the world
03:43during the two world wars, and to uphold with fierce determination the promise of our Entente Cordiale.
03:51We shall never forget the support of the asylum your forefathers gave to the free French forces in the
03:58fight against the barbarism of the Nazis. Sir Winston Churchill was one of the visionaries who had the foresight to
04:09help forge a strong transatlantic alliance and to come up with a peaceful European order in which he deeply believed.
04:17He passed this same vision on to us of a world order based on law, justice and respect for territorial integrity.
04:30An order that is today being attacked on a daily basis as we witness direct attacks on our democracies, the return of war to our continent, the resurgence of imperial impulses, and the floating of international rules by destabilizing powers who are attempting to divide up the world to their advantage.
04:52Speaker, you and your predecessors have become famous, I have to say, even in France, for your way of restoring order in the courts with your imperial and imperious exclamations, order, order.
05:09And today, we wish to join you in shooting out order with you to calm the unrest in the world.
05:19As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council deeply committed to multilateralism, the United Kingdom and France must once again show the world that our alliance can make all the difference.
05:36Clearly, we have to work together in order to defend an efficient multilateralism and to protect the international order as we fought it after the Second World War.
05:53And first, in supporting Ukraine, which has been illegally attacked by both running the support of Europeans and coordinating with the Americans to create the necessary conditions for robust and solid lasting peace.
06:21I want to command your country.
06:26Since the first day, and even before the first day, you were part of the closest ally of Ukraine, training the army, being here the first day to protect President Zelensky, his government, and allowing the forces just to resist, as you did decades ago with my country.
06:48And together, we worked very hard during the past few years in order to stand with Ukrainian people, just helping them to resist.
06:59We were right and we are right.
07:01And because every time Vladimir Putin's Russia advances in Ukraine, the threat moves closer to us all, we will never accept the theory that might is right.
07:12And I want to be clear.
07:13And I want to be clear.
07:14This is why, together with you, Mr. Prime Minister, we decided to launch last February this coalition of the willing you mentioned.
07:23And this coalition was just a signal that Europeans will never abandon Ukraine.
07:30Never.
07:31And whatever the decisions could be elsewhere, we will fight till the very last minute in order to get the ceasefire, in order to get the ceasefire, in order to get the ceasefire.
07:52In order to start the negotiations to build this robust and sustainable peace.
08:07Because this is our security and our principles together, which are at stake in Ukraine.
08:14This is a possibility of a European peace.
08:18Our generation did enjoy during the past decade, which is at stake in Ukraine.
08:24Nothing less.
08:25And together, we will follow up these efforts.
08:30We have also stood together in calling for the cessation of hostilities and paths to peace in the Middle East, since the spiral of violence began after the terrorist attacks by Hamas on the 7th of October 2023.
08:46Together, we call for the release of all hostages. Together, we've called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
08:56It is a matter of absolute urgency to end the suffering of the hostages and of the Gazans.
09:05A war without end and without a strategic objective poses a huge threat to the region and our collective security.
09:13Today, a dehumanization is occurring there that can never be justified.
09:20Together, we are aware that a political way out is crucial.
09:26And I believe in the future of the two-state solution as a basis for a regional security architecture, which will enable Israel to live in peace and security alongside its neighbors.
09:38But I want to be clear.
09:41Calling today for a ceasefire in Gaza without any conditions is just telling to the rest of the world that for us, as Europeans, there is no double standard.
09:56And as we are attached to human lives, as we are attached to territorial integrity, we want the ceasefire.
10:03No discussion.
10:05And today, working together in order to recognize the state of Palestine and to initiate this political momentum is the only path to peace.
10:15Because since Oslo in 1993, with Gaza in Rome and West Bank being, on a daily basis, attacked, the perspective of a Palestinian state,
10:22has never been put at risk as it is.
10:47And the objective of a recognition is not just making our duty, but this is as well reopening a political perspective and refusing just an answer based on security.
11:04And this is why the solution of the two states and the recognition of the state of Palestine is, as well, according to me, the only way to build peace and stability for all in the whole region.
11:22This approach is in line with our common refusal to tolerate the threat posed by an Iran that possesses nuclear weapons.
11:30There again, we know all too well the limitations of solutions based on force and the temptation to bring about regime change.
11:39France, the United Kingdom and Germany, in coordination with all stakeholders, have the duty to bring about a stringent negotiation, which ensures international monitoring of Iran's nuclear program over the long term, thereby preserving the international non-proliferation framework as a foundation for collective security.
12:03It is with the same coherence and firmness that we must act to defend the world order.
12:10In Africa, our two countries have had a weighty past, which is why we can legitimately send a message of conciliation and refusal of spheres of influence, of respect for economic and territorial sovereignty.
12:25In the Indo-Pacific, our history has made us watchdogs of freedom of navigation and compliance with international law, which we defend.
12:37Amid these upheavals, the alliance between France and the United Kingdom has not faltered.
12:44It has even become stronger.
12:47Yes, during the past few years, this alliance became stronger.
12:54On defense and security, the Lancaster House treaties showed that we were willing to cooperate on the most sensitive subjects regarding our sovereignty and our deterrence.
13:04When our two countries signed them, some clever people found a way to derive savings of resources from them, and others have even dubbed them the Entente Regale.
13:14Yet, they have successfully provided structure for defense cooperation between our two countries for the past 15 years.
13:22At this bilateral summit, we will enter a new stage that will scale up this cooperation.
13:30And our two countries, the only European nuclear weapon states, the leading armed forces of the continent, together accounting for 40% of European military budgets,
13:39vote to fully shoulder the responsibility when it comes to European security.
13:45And we are faced with new threats, with aggressive nuclear powers, with sometimes hesitating alliances, and the return of major conflict on our continent.
13:57This is why in today's our summit is so important, and the announcement we prepared so historical.
14:05The capabilities identified 15 years ago at Lancaster House must be increased dramatically in proportion to the threat.
14:13Our industrial cooperation must also move to the next level.
14:17And our relation to Europe must change, even in the core of sovereignty.
14:22There is an expectation in Europe that faced with revisionist neighbors, our two countries, have a special responsibility for the security of the continent.
14:34And it is time to articulate it.
14:37And to paraphrase Pete's famous phrase, to make sure that not only our two countries will save themselves by their own exhaustion, but also that we will save Europe by our example and our solidarity.
14:52But we will return to this in more detail at the summit on Thursday, but very clearly.
14:57Taking the commitment to go to the 3.5% on defense in the years to come, it's not just piling money, but increasing our cooperation altogether, reducing our dependencies and building a strong European pillar in NATO.
15:17We have to work together to cooperate as we did a few years ago in Sahel shoulder to shoulder.
15:24We have to cooperate in order to build new common program to increase the cooperation of our industries and to make a more independent and stronger Europe of defense.
15:38Second, on climate and biodiversity.
15:43Together, we commit to the planet in the face of the new league of international reactionaries.
15:47We deny science and facts.
15:50We also defend with one voice the implementation of our climate ambitions towards carbon neutrality, fading out fossil fuels and protecting forests, which will be core issues of the upcoming COP30 in Berlin.
16:03We are also acting together to achieve the ratification of the BB&G Treaty on the protection of oceans, mobilizing the private sector, reforming the official development assistance system in line with the Paris Pact for Peoples and Planets, where we work together.
16:20And we worked very actively and still work together on biodiversity and biodiversity credits.
16:27The report we commissioned together as Franco-British during King Charles' state visit to France is not just excellent, but we endorse it and we will implement it.
16:39We will now continue to work together and implement this work.
16:46Third, on migration.
16:49And I have the feeling to be weighted on this issue as well in your country.
16:53Indeed, in this unstable world, hope for a better life elsewhere is legitimate.
16:59But we cannot allow our country's rules for taking in people to be flattered in criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life.
17:13France and the United Kingdom have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and firmness.
17:22The decisions that we will take at our bilateral summit will respond to our aims for cooperation and tangible results on these major issues.
17:34Very clearly, we ask our Minister of Domestic Affairs to work very closely together and I want to tell you the very close coordination and cooperation.
17:45But our objective, very clearly, is to have the best ever cooperation between our two countries in order to fix today what is a burden for our two countries.
17:58But let me remind as well, as we are making these bilateral efforts, as we are stepping up the level of our cooperation,
18:08a third of the people entering illegally into the Schengen Area attempt to cross the channel.
18:16And we will only arrive at a lasting and effective solution with as well the action at the European level and the cooperation,
18:24especially of the countries of the first century on the European soil,
18:28by continuing to work with the countries of departure and transit, of global migration routes,
18:34and as well by addressing pull factors. But let's be clear, we will deliver together, because this issue is a clear issue for our two countries.
18:47Fourth, on economy. Our trade has been revived and has even surpassed the pre-Brexit levels.
18:57The 3,500 French companies working in the UK remains the second leading foreign employers in your country, and vice versa.
19:07And we want to do more, and at the occasion of the summit as well. We will deliver additional results,
19:13additional investment and very strategic investments in the energy and space fields where we have long-standing cooperation,
19:22but where we want to build a new step forward and open a new era.
19:29Since the last time a French president spoke before you in 2008, Europe has changed.
19:37First of all, of course, because the sovereign British people choose to leave the European Union in 2016,
19:45a decision that we respect, even if we found it deeply regrettable.
19:51I am aware that I am the first European head of state to make a state visit since the United Kingdom left the European Union,
19:59and I take full account of the importance of this moment.
20:04It took us a few years, but we have agreed on the foundations for our new relationship.
20:11After the withdrawal agreement and the trade and cooperation agreement reinforced by the Windsor framework.
20:18And some of us worked very hard on all this text. I have great memories.
20:23I support Prime Minister Starmer's efforts as well to restore trust, ensure compliance with the agreement concluded,
20:33and strengthen this framework through targeted cooperation in our common interests.
20:38I welcome the fact that on the 19th of May, we were able to define a pragmatic roadmap
20:44between the European Union and the United Kingdom on defence, energy, climate and other issues.
20:53But just as leaving the European Union did not mean the United Kingdom left Europe,
20:59efforts to address the challenges facing all of Europe cannot be limited to the European Union alone.
21:08What is at stake today in Europe is our ability to shoulder the responsibility to ensure our continent's security also to a greater extent.
21:19What is at stake today in Europe is our ability to invest in key technologies of the future.
21:26AI, quantum technologies, space, biotech, decarbonised energy sources and defence industry, as I mentioned.
21:35In order to avoid strategic dependencies and disengagement that would put us at risk, and especially the risk of a slow death, to mention Mario Draghi.
21:47Indeed, we have to de-risk our economies and our societies, first from the risk of the lack of innovation.
21:58And this is what we experienced during the past decade if we compare our countries with the United States.
22:05But we will have as well to de-risk our two countries for the excessive dependencies on both the US and China.
22:15I do not put a sign equal between China and the US. We have a strong ally on one side, and a challenger, sometimes a partner when we speak about climate change with China.
22:25But let's be realistic. If the Europeans, if the United Kingdom and France do not work together in order to build solid value chain, in order to reduce our dependencies on this critical area as I mentioned,
22:43If we still depend on both China and the US, I think we have a clear view of our future and the future of our children.
22:53On one side, other capacities and other subsidies are clear threats of a fair trade.
23:00And they are destabilizing a lot of value chain and creating new dependencies.
23:05On the other side, the trade war is clearly an explicit decision not to be compliant anymore with WTO.
23:16And this du commerce we loved till now. We have no other choice if we want to be lucid, if we want to build a sustainable future for all children to de-risk our economies and our societies from these dual dependencies.
23:36We want an open world. We want to cooperate, but not to depend. And each time we depend, each time we are not able to stand up and decide and agree to disagree, this is the beginning of our problem.
23:49We are in this situation. This is why we have to work very hard together on this technological and economic field in order to strengthen our value chains together and reduce these dependencies.
24:06But what is at stake as well today in Europe is the defense of democratic models amid foreign interference, information manipulation, domination of minds by negative emotions and addictions to social media.
24:19This is the big other risks. It is the same challenge we are facing when it comes to digital age, restriction online and protecting our children from social media and screens.
24:31This is an issue brutally brought to the light three months ago by the British series adolescents.
24:38And let's be clear, this is the same type of risk. Being vulnerable to algorithms designed in the US, being vulnerable to algorithms designed in China with social networks not even allowed to the Chinese teenagers.
25:00This is being vulnerable. This is being vulnerable to the interferences and misinformation coming from Russia and other places.
25:07The strength of our democracies depend on our capacity to create new regulations in order to better protect our children and our democracies and our democratic debate, the relationship with science and truth.
25:23Otherwise, our future will be decided by those who will decide for this algorithm.
25:30Our two countries are among the oldest sovereign nations in Europe. And sovereignty means a lot to both of us.
25:37And everything I referred to was about sovereignty. Deciding for ourselves. Choosing our technologies.
25:44Our economy. Deciding our diplomacy. Deciding our diplomacy. Deciding our diplomacy. Deciding the content we want to share and the ideas we want to share.
25:51And the controversies we want to share. And the controversies we want to share.
25:58Even though, it is not part of the European Union. The United Kingdom cannot stay on the sidelines.
26:05Because defense and security, competitiveness, democracy, the very core of our identity, the very core of our identity are connected across Europe as a continent.
26:12And you understand me. The point is not to diverge.
26:19And you understand me. The point is not to diverge.
26:22The point is not to diverge.
26:25And to move forward side by side on these strategic choices we are facing.
26:40To avert the risk of advancement, division, weakness.
26:55A certain idea of Europe, so dear to George Steiner, must continue to connect us today.
27:01And it is also the meaning behind the European political community, which has shown its ability to bring together the European family across the continent of Europe.
27:13To address the issues of stability, security and cooperation between states in concrete terms.
27:23And the United Kingdom is playing a full role as demonstrated a year ago at Blenheim summit.
27:30I believe that our two countries will continue to be drivers of change. Drivers of this wider Europe and this meaningful convergence.
27:42We must be able to count on our economic, academic, research and cultural relations to together tackle these sovereign related challenges.
27:53And I welcome the number of partnership agreements that our universities, museums, research institutions will sign in the margins of this visit.
28:03They will participate in our respective agenda to re-industrialization and strategic independence in key sectors, from artificial intelligence to culture.
28:14Our two countries are leaders in Europe when we refer to artificial intelligence.
28:19But the competition of the US and China is fierce.
28:22And Europe, on this point as well, needs to step up its investments.
28:27This is why we have to work as well, together.
28:30As the Channel Tunnel is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, let's make a wish here today.
28:40Let's not allow the Channel to grow wider.
28:43Although there are 300,000 French people living in the United Kingdom and 150,000 British people living in France,
28:53there has been a decrease in movement in recent years.
28:57When it comes to schools, universities, professional and research exchanges.
29:02And today there is a risk that our societies are growing apart.
29:07That our young people do not know each other as well and may end up strangers.
29:12At a time when international current events remind us on a daily basis of our common future.
29:19Let's fix it.
29:20Let's work together in order to facilitate the exchange of students, researchers, intellectuals, artists.
29:30This is so important.
29:32Let's allow our children to have the same opportunities as the one we had.
29:38Members of Parliament, my Lords, tomorrow at the British Museum, we will officially
29:55announce an historical exchange.
30:11In the run-up to the 1000th anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror, France will loan the United Kingdom the Bayer Tapestry.
30:22I have to say it took probably more years to deliver this project than all the Brexit texts.
30:47Because we launched it together with Prime Minister Theresa May at that time during a state, not a state visit, but a summit a few years ago.
30:57But at the end of the day, we did it.
30:59And the tapestry will be displaced in London, while the national museums of Rouen and Caen will receive the certain treasure on loan.
31:10And I think these mutual loans of these extraordinary national treasures will involve fascinating human exchanges, which will certainly be positive for our future in terms of culture.
31:22And let's see this exchange happening between summer 26 and summer 27 as the beginning of this new era of exchange and the reopening of this mutual movements.
31:38The times of William the Conqueror are over, happily.
31:43And the role of charging cavalry as well. Our Entente Cordiale, sealed 126 years ago, has enabled our countries to bring their futures closer to protect Europe's strategic balances and to enter into an era of cooperation and competition, replacing our battlefields with football and rugby fields, as you mentioned.
32:06At the invitation of his majesty, King Charles III, whom I should like to thank for his hospitality and his long-standing, very special relationship with my country, I came here today to renew the French people's message of friendship and fraternity.
32:31Yes, finally, we meet again. And let's be sure that we will meet again for years and decades. Because we are linked by our geography, by our past, but we are linked by our common future.
32:57And the only way to overcome the challenges we have, the challenges of our times, will be to go together, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder. This is our common destiny.
33:15Long live our friends, United Kingdom friendship. Long live the United Kingdom. Long live France.
33:45Long live France. Thank you.
Recommended
2:22
2:22