UK's Starmer, Germany’s Scholz meet as EU 'reset' looms

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to his state property Sunday connected the eve of seeking to amended relations with the European Union.

Starmer hosted Scholz astatine Chequers, the premier minister's state residence successful Buckinghamshire 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of London, earlier the 2 spell to Belgium to conscionable with EU chiefs Monday, wherever the U.K. person is aiming for a narration “reset."

While ruling retired rejoining the EU commercialized bloc 5 years aft Brexit, Starmer said helium wants to forge a person narration connected defense, vigor and trade.

“I deliberation that is surely successful the U.K.’s champion interest, I bash judge it’s successful the EU’s champion interest, and already I anticipation that successful the past 7 months there’s been a manifest quality successful approach, code and relationship,” helium said.

Starmer and Scholz discussed Ukraine and the Middle East, according to a Starmer spokesperson. The premier curate spoke of their communal attack to “key issues and challenges,” including their shared committedness to Kyiv arsenic the warfare with Russia enters its 4th twelvemonth this month.

“When I started arsenic premier curate 7 months agone now, I was determined to fortify the narration betwixt our 2 countries — already precise good, but I thought it could beryllium stronger connected a fig of fronts," said Starmer, person of the center-left Labour Party. "And acknowledgment to your leadership, I deliberation we’ve made existent progress.”

Scholz said the sojourn that included a locomotion astir the grounds of the property and a luncheon was a "good motion of the precise bully relations betwixt our 2 countries, and so betwixt the 2 of us.”

Scholz is up for reelection Feb. 23, wherever his center-left Social Democrats are lagging successful the polls down the center-right Christian Democratic Union and the far-right Alternative for Germany, oregon AfD.