PARIS/LONDON: Britain will pay France around £480 million over the next three years to help clamp down on migrants travelling to Britain in small boats, helping to fund more patrols and enhanced technology.
The new deal was announced by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron during a summit designed to reset ties after years of bickering over Brexit.
The meeting was the first summit of Europe's two main military nations - both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and nuclear powers - in five years.
As part of the new deal, Britain will help fund a detention centre in France. The two countries also agreed to send officers from Britain's National Crime Agency and its French counterpart to countries along the routes favoured by people traffickers.
The funding package will be paid in instalments, with the French also contributing significantly more funding, they said.
Ties between the two countries have often been rocky since Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, but have been fortified by the countries' support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion.
Contrary to recent mudslinging, Macron welcomed Sunak at the Elysee palace and the two greeted each other with smiles and mutual back-slapping.
"Our deep history, our proximity and our shared global outlook mean that a firm partnership between the UK and France is not just valuable, it is essential," Sunak said in a statement late Thursday.
He confirmed that the European Political Community -- a Macron initiative formed after Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago -- will be hosted by Britain following an October summit in Spain.
Britain and France are working jointly to deter "the scourge of illegal migration", Sunak also said.
Sunak is under fierce pressure to thwart thousands of asylum seekers crossing the Channel, and this week unveiled legislation that critics said would make Britain an international outlaw on refugee rights.
Britain has been paying France to help patrol the Channel border, and a summit pact will focus on "increasing the resources deployed to manage this common border, with multi-year financing", an aide to Macron said.
The Times newspaper reported that the deal would be for around £200 million, spread out over three years.
Although Britain's exit from the European Union still bedevils ties, recent developments, including an agreement to settle the EU trading status of Northern Ireland, have created goodwill.
The two neighbours have also found common cause in supporting Ukraine against Russia.
Sunak and Macron will agree to "further coordinate both the supply of weapons to Ukraine and the training of Ukrainian marines", the Downing Street statement said.
As well as Ukrainian soldiers and marines, Britain has undertaken to train Ukrainian pilots -- although Western allies are wary of offering fighter jets to Kyiv.
"Bolstering these efforts through further joint UK and French training could see thousands more Ukrainians brought to battlefield readiness," the statement said.
The leaders will further look at ensuring a "permanent presence of likeminded European partners" in the Asia-Pacific, "whose security is indivisible from that of Europe", it said.
That includes coordinating the deployment of France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier with the Royal Navy's brand-new carriers -- HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
As part of the Sunak government's post-Brexit outreach, the summit paves the way for King Charles III to make France his first foreign destination when he heads there on a state visit at the end of March.
While Johnson revelled in French-bashing, Sunak says he and Macron are "friends", with their warm embrace during their first encounter in November sparking light-hearted speculation about a "bromance".
They are similar ages, 45 and 42, and are former investment bankers. Both were schooled privately, grew up in provincial towns, and have fathers with medical backgrounds.
"I would be careful to read too much into the 'bromance', but it's true they come from a similar background and generation, which has an impact on how they see their countries' roles in the world," Alice Billon-Galland, a research fellow at the Chatham House think-tank in London, said. - AFP
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