Emmanuel Macron backs Canada as EU associate member as Mark Carney turns toward Europe

French President Emmanuel Macron backed a proposal for Canada to become the European Unions first associate member as he and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney moved to deepen strategic ties spanning space defence energy and businessThe leaders met on Sunday in SaintPierreetMiquelon a French territory just off Newfoundlands coast where France and Canada are separated by only a few kilometres a striking setting for Canadas accelerating turn toward Europe as relations with the US deteriorateWe are very much in favour of that agenda of closer ties with the European Union as an associate member of the Union as the president said and as a fullfledged member of the European community Macron said in French while standing alongside CarneyOnly a few kilometres separate Canada and France at their closest point Our values are even closer Carney said in French Carney said the countries will task their space agencies and defense ministries to develop and share infrastructure including launch systems and groundbased reception facilitiesThey also agreed to expand cooperation in energy telecommunications climate resilience and economic development Macrons endorsement comes days after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the EUs first associate memberCarney embraced the prospect and has argued that deeper ties with Europe would give Canada more alternatives and make it less vulnerable to economic coercion by any single country Trumps tariffs demands for economic concessions and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st US state have accelerated that turn toward EuropeTrump also recently posted a map on social media draping the US flag across all of North America including Canada and SaintPierreetMiquelon Macron welcomed Carney on Sunday at the airport in SaintPierreetMiquelon the French territory of about 5800 people just off Newfoundlands coastMacron also said that Sundays 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 essentialsCanada is a country with significant resources of critical minerals and rare earths It is also a major oil and natural gas producer Macron said What we want to do is conclude agreements to secure more liquefied natural gas that can be shipped to Europes Atlantic coastThe leaders discussed aerospace energy critical minerals and advanced technologies such as quantum computing satellites and supercomputing Carneys office said in a statementCarney returned to Ottawa later Sunday to meet Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store for talks on defence Arctic security energy critical minerals and emerging technologies before heading to New York on Monday for the UN General AssemblyAt a joint news conference with Store Carney rejected the idea that deeper ties with European allies should be seen as hostile to the United States saying Canada is a better partner when it is more independent or more resilient and has stronger relationships around the worldSundays meeting also follows Trumps 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 allyMacron welcomed the agreement Saturday Danish sovereignty is being respected international law is being respected he said Anything that helps ease tensions is a good thingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever