British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels next week as part of efforts to “reset” Britain’s relationship with the European Union, Euractiv reports.
The Prime Minister announced the upcoming trip on website X late on Wednesday night, but did not specify which day he planned to meet von der Leyen.
Starmer has repeatedly promised to “reset” relations with the EU since becoming prime minister on July 5, after his centre-left Labour Party won the election the day before. He has already visited Berlin, Paris and Dublin as part of this diplomatic offensive. His next stop will be Brussels. The PM said on X:
“I want to reset our relationship with the EU and make Brexit work for the British people.”
Starmer added that he was “looking forward to visiting Brussels next week to start talks” with von der Leyen. The post was accompanied by a photo of the pair pictured together on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Britain left the EU in early 2020, almost four years after a majority of British voters decided to leave the bloc. Starmer, who became a member of the British parliament a year before the referendum, backed the losing side of “Remain” and later called for a second referendum. But after becoming leader of the Labour Party, which suffered a major election defeat in December 2019 under left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn, he pledged to respect the referendum result.
