Emmanuel Macron will visit the French territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon on Sunday to meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a show of support for France’s sovereignty over the North Atlantic archipelago.
The meeting comes weeks after US President Donald Trump posted an image on social media showing Saint Pierre and Miquelon covered by the American flag. The image also depicted Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean under a US flag labelled “United States of America”, including several French Caribbean territories.
Located off Canada’s Atlantic coast, Saint Pierre and Miquelon is France’s only remaining territory in North America. Macron’s visit will be the first by a French president since François Hollande travelled there in 2014.
French officials said the trip would underline France’s sovereignty over the islands while highlighting the territory’s close relationship with Canada. Macron is travelling there on his way to the annual United Nations General Assembly gathering of world leaders.
A French presidency official told reporters that the small territory brought together issues of national importance, including France’s strategic presence in the North Atlantic, its proximity to the United States and the Arctic, maritime sovereignty, climate change and co-operation with Canada.
“For a territory of 5800 inhabitants, it is rare to find so many issues that are important for France as a whole concentrated in a place of this size: France’s geostrategic presence in the North Atlantic, at the doorstep of the United States and the Arctic, maritime sovereignty, adaptation to climate change; and cooperation with Canada,” the official said.
Macron and Carney to discuss Canada-EU ties
Macron and Mr Carney are expected to discuss the energy crisis and Canada’s increasingly close relationship with the European Union, after the bloc opened the way for Ottawa to become its first associate member.
Any deeper integration would face obstacles. More than a decade after the EU and Canada agreed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, and nine years after its provisional application began, several EU member states have yet to ratify it, including France.
