Theresa May will visit Berlin tomorrow in her first foreign visit as new prime minister, Downing Street said, for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel on the UK’s preparations to leave the EU.
She will then head for Paris on Thursday for similar talks with French President Francois Hollande, and for discussions on counter-terrorism co-operation following the Nice truck attack, a spokeswoman said yesterday.
They are May’s first foreign visits since she became prime minister last Wednesday in the wake of Britain’s referendum vote to leave the European Union.
Incoming premiers normally make early visits to establish personal links with key European leaders, but this week’s trip will be highly charged by the referendum outcome and the need to forge a new relationship between Britain and the continent’s major powers.
After taking her first weekly prime minister’s questions session in the parliament at midday (1100GMT), May will travel to Berlin for a meeting and a working dinner with Merkel.
“This will be an opportunity to discuss the bilateral relationship, co-operation on a range of global challenges, and of course how the UK and Germany can work together as the UK prepares to leave the EU,” the spokeswoman said.
Then on Thursday, she will visit Paris for a meeting with Hollande at the president’s Elysee Palace official residence.
“The talks are likely to cover similar issues as those in Berlin, as well as Thursday’s attack in Nice and counter-terrorism co-operation,” the spokeswoman said.
May will not get into a detailed Brexit discussion with Merkel and Hollande, her spokeswoman stressed.
“Of course you’re going to talk about political realities — and that is the decision of the British people to leave the European Union — but...it will be their first meeting as head of state and government and so I don’t expect it to get into lots of detailed discussions,” the spokeswoman added.
Elysee sources said May would be due in Paris late Thursday, with three subjects on the agenda: external security and the battle against terror; implementing Brexit and the importance of Franco-British relations.
The result of the June 23 referendum sent shockwaves through Europe.
In Britain, prime minister David Cameron — who, like May, backed the UK staying in the EU — stepped down.
May, who had spent six years as Cameron’s interior minister, became leader of the governing centre-right Conservative Party following a short contest, before taking office.
Top Brexit campaigner and former mayor of London Boris Johnson, her surprise choice as new foreign minister, was in Brussels yesterday for talks with his EU counterparts.
He said Britain would continue to play a leading role in Europe.
“We have to give effect to the will of the people and leave the European Union but...we are not going in any way to abandon our leading role in European participation,” Johnson told reporters.