BERLIN: Outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his departure on Monday amid plunging approval ratings, but there were warm words from European leaders who had generally found him easier to work with than his recent predecessors.
Starmer, the first non-Conservative prime minister since Britain voted to leave the European Union, rejected suggestions that it could rejoin the 27-member bloc, but he had pushed to improve relations after the trauma of Brexit.
He also kept up Britain's central role in the region's support for Ukraine, alongside his fellow "E3" leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"It can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on the social media platform X. "European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you. Thank you, dear Keir."
Starmer came to office in 2024, sweeping aside a deeply unpopular government that presided over a slumping economy and a nation still divided by the bitter Brexit referendum campaign. - Reuters
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