Macron says UK is a friend despite its leaders’ errors

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The UK is a “good friend and ally” to France regardless of its leaders and the “little mistakes” they might make on the campaign trail, French president Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

He was responding to comments from Conservative party and prime ministerial candidate Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, who said on Thursday “the jury’s out” on whether Macron was friend or foe.

Macron, re-elected in April, has had a difficult relationship with outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson and the government that implemented Brexit. The UK and France though have long been allies and are both members of Nato and permanent members of the UN Security Council.

“It’s never good to lose your bearings too much in life,” Macron said during a visit to Algeria when asked about the UK foreign secretary’s remarks. “Whoever is considered the future leader of the UK, I don’t hesitate for one second. The UK is friends with France.”

In a world of authoritarian democracies and illiberal powers, the British and the French were heading for “serious problems” if they were not capable of saying whether they were friends or enemies of each other, Macron said.

“So I say with absolute certainty that the British people, the nation of the UK, is a good friend and an ally, whoever its leaders are, and sometimes in spite of the leaders and the little mistakes they might make in comments on the campaign trail,” Macron said.