CAMBERLEY, England (AP) – The Latest on the meeting Thursday between French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May (all times local):
6:40 p.m.
French President Emmanuel Macron says Britain and France have signed a treaty to improve the management of their common border and to deal more humanely with migrants.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May look at two Royal Air Force planes during a fly past ahead of the Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Macron says the Sandhurst Treaty was signed by the two countries’ interior ministers at a summit Thursday at Britain’s Sandhurst military academy.
He says it will cut the time it takes to process migrants who gather in the northern French port of Calais hoping to reach Britain, and to treat them more humanely and efficiently. Macron wants Britain to take more migrants from Calais but no figure was given Thursday.
Macron says the border issue “is a common challenge and we shall succeed together.”
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12:05 p.m.
In a significant gesture, British Prime Minister Theresa May has offered funds to ease French annoyance over a 2003 deal that placed British border controls in Calais, on the French side of the English Channel.
The town has become a magnet for migrants hoping to reach Britain, and the accord puts the burden of blocking their entry to the U.K. on France.
Britain agreed Thursday to pay 44.5 million pounds ($62 million) for fences, security cameras and other measures in Calais and nearby English Channel ports. France also wants Britain to take in more migrants from Calais, especially unaccompanied children, but there was no announcement on that issue.
The U.K. also said it will send three Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters and dozens of personnel to join France’s military mission against Islamic militants in Africa’s Sahel region. France has led efforts to fight al-Qaida and IS-linked jihadi groups in the vast region south of the Sahara desert.
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9:10 a.m.
The leaders of Britain and France have met against a military backdrop, with the U.K. promising to help boost border security in France and support French military missions as part of moves to bind the countries closer together after Brexit.
The announcement came as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron held a bilateral summit Thursday intended to strengthen security and intelligence ties between the neighboring nations, and to build goodwill as Britain negotiates its exit from the European Union.
The venue – the Sandhurst military academy southwest of London – was selected as a signal that the relationship between western Europe’s two biggest military powers won’t be weakened once the U.K. leaves the EU in 2019.
It’s Macron’s first visit to Britain since he became president of France in May 2017.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May look at two Royal Air Force planes as they perform a fly past ahead of the start of an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley England , Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May listen to the national anthems as they arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
French President Emmanuel Macron views a guard of honour at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, near Camberley England ahead of UK-France summit talks Thursday Jan. 18, 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron inspects the Guard of Honour as he and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
French President Emmanuel Macron views a guard of honour at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, near Camberley England ahead of UK-France summit talks Thursday Jan. 18, 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron visit the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, near Camberley, England, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018, ahead of the UK-France summit talks. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)
The Guard of Honour line up before French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May as they arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
French President Emmanuel Macron inspects the Guard of Honour as he and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
French President Emmanuel Macron inspects the Guard of Honour as he and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May walk back to the stand after inspecting the Guard of Honour ahead of the Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May, front left, and French President Emmanuel Macron, front right, pose at a plenary session at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, near Camberley England during UK-France summit talk Thursday Jan. 18, 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrives for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, left, with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, second left, arrive to watch the opening ceremony for the Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
French President Emmanuel Macron inspects the Guard of Honour as he and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain’s Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, right, Chancellor Philip Hammond, second left, Prime Minister, Theresa May, right, and French President, Emmanuel Macron, rear left, centre, attend a get ready for a group photograph at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, near Camberley, England, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018, for the UK-France summit talks. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, left, and the French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly, center, arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May arrive for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrives for an Anglo-French summit at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, Camberley, England, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
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