Starmer Calls on Europe’s Leaders to Address Migration ‘Crisis’ at European Summit

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer makes remarks at the opening plenary session at the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire on Thursday July 18, 2024. (Kin Cheung/PA Wire)

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called on Europe’s leaders to address the illegal migration “crisis” at a summit in Oxfordshire on Thursday.

Sir Keir said he hoped the European Political Community (EPC) summit would provide an opportunity to “reset” Britain’s relationship with its continental neighbours in the wake of Brexit.

The EPC was the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron and brings together 20 non-EU nations, including the UK, as well as the 27 EU countries.

Opening the summit at Blenheim Palace, Winston Churchill’s birthplace, he also reiterated Labour’s support for the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

In the last few years of Conservative rule in the UK, the party had repeatedly flirted with pulling out of the agreement, which was drafted and came into force during the early 1950s.

Sir Keir said Britain would be a “friend and a partner ready to work with you” adding the country was “not part of the European Union (EU), but very much part of Europe.”

He said that the key to addressing the triple challenge of small boats crossing the English Channel, the Mediterranean Sea, and Europe’s internal borders was “smashing” people smuggling gangs.

The prime minister said: “It is now, I think, a crisis. As we speak, as we gather here, a criminal empire is at work in every country represented here today, profiting off human misery and desperation, prepared to send infants, babies, pregnant mothers, innocent people to their deaths.

“And last week four more souls, and actually last night another one, were lost in the waters of the English Channel—a chilling reminder of the human cost of this vile trade.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer greets President of France, Emmanuel Macron as he arrives to attend the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire on July 18, 2024 (Jacob King/PA Wire)

Sir Keir described the meeting as an opportunity to “set a new path on illegal migration” urging Europe to “combine our resources, share intelligence, share tactics, shut down the smuggling routes, and smash the gangs.”

Sir Keir said the “root causes” driving people from their homes, such as conflict, climate change and extreme poverty also needed to be addressed.

On his new administration’s approach, the prime minister said: “We will approach this issue with humanity and with a profound respect for international law.

“And that’s why we scrapped the unworkable Rwanda scheme on day one. And it’s why we will never withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.”

He referenced Rome’s plan to send migrants arriving in Italy to Albania for processing, with sources indicating that was the kind of innovative approach that could be considered.

Sir Keir also spoke to his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama in the margins of the summit in a so-called “brush-by” meeting.

“The two leaders discussed issues of European security including migration, specifically innovative solutions such as the Italy-Albania partnership,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

More than 380,000 people are believed to have entered the EU through irregular routes in 2023—an increase of 17 percent on the previous year.

Around 41 percent of those arrivals are believed to have come in small boats across the Central Mediterranean, 26 percent on land through the Balkans, and 16 percent coming across the Eastern Mediterranean.

‘Steadfast Support for Ukraine’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the opening plenary at the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire on July 18, 2024 (Kin Cheung/PA Wire)

The prime minister, flanked by President Volodymyr Zelensky, also said the first task of the EPC was to “confirm our steadfast support for Ukraine.”

“Every day Ukraine fights affects not just the Ukrainian people, but the European people,” he said.

“A continent where our belief in freedom, democracy and the rule of law was hard won and that wants to live in peace.”

President Zelensky said he would “sign an intergovernmental agreement with the UK on support for the Ukrainian defence and industrial complex, discuss future defence cooperation, and expand our defence capabilities.”

“Since the first days of the full-scale invasion, the UK has been one step ahead in its determination to support Ukraine. This is the kind of resolve we need to stop Russian terror,” he added.

Sir Keir also indicated he wished to strike a security pact with the EU and look to address some trading problems which have occurred under the current Brexit deal.

‘Gamechanger for UK-EU Relations’

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said:  “We welcome the new tone of the British Government and we look forward to engaging with it. We are ready to reinforce our foreign and security policy cooperation.”

Ireland’s premier Simon Harris also said Labour’s election win could be a “gamechanger” for UK-EU relations, saying that, politically it is “a very different landscape to the one we would have been discussing were we standing here only weeks ago.”

Sir Keir will have a series of face-to-face talks with key figures including a dinner with President Macron and a meeting with Polish prime minister Donald Tusk.

All the leaders will also attend a reception hosted by King Charles III in the palace’s Long Library, lined by more than 10,000 books,

PA media contributed to this report.