French President Emmanuel Macron said France and Canada were "two great independent nations who want to stay that way" in a joint news conference with Canadian leader Mark Carney Sunday. Carney, visiting France's tiny North Atlantic territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon just off the Canadian coast, said the moment had come to tighten links with France and the European Union. The leaders' meeting, in the tiny overseas French territory off the coast of Canada's Newfoundland came as both countries have increasingly awkward relations with the US under President Donald Trump.
The meeting came days after Carney embraced the prospect of Canada becoming the European Union’s first associate member, saying closer ties with the continent would ensure no country could control Canada’s markets or undermine its sovereignty. Trump’s tariffs, demands for economic concessions and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have pushed Ottawa to reduce its dependence on its neighbour and pursue deeper economic, security and political relationships with Europe. At a joint press conference in Saint Pierre and Miquelon on Sunday,Macron said the two countries would work together for closer ties on fishing, security and energy.
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Earlier Sunday, Macron posted a video on X of him welcoming Carney at the airport. "In a world in crisis, our friendship is a strength," said Macron."Together, we affirm our sovereignty, our freedom to decide and our willingness to build a future of peace and prosperity," he added. To display this content from X (Twitter), you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
Macron also said that Sunday’s talks are part of broader efforts to help France secure oil and gas supplies as the Iran war disrupts global energy markets and raises fears of higher prices for fuel and other essentials. It is also a major oil and natural gas producer,” Macron said. It included Saint Pierre and Miquelon and French Caribbean territories.
Sunday’s meeting followed Trump’s announcement of a deal on Greenland that would expand the US military presence there while keeping the island under Danish control. The agreement followed months of threats by Trump to seize the semiautonomous territory of a NATO ally. For France, Saint Pierre and Miquelon is strategically important due to its location on the doorstep of the US and the Arctic, a French presidency official told reporters in a briefing ahead of the visit.
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