Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney will be the first head of government to attend the State of European Union address, to be delivered next week by by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
Montreal (Canada) (AFP) - Prime Minister Mark Carney calls Canada “the most European of non-European countries,” and while formal EU membership may be tricky, he is pursuing unprecedented closeness with the bloc to reduce dependence on a hostile United States.
Carney heads to Strasbourg, France, this week, where he will become the first head of government to attend the “State of the European Union” address on Wednesday, before delivering his own speech at the European Parliament the following day.
He will also make a stop in Liverpool, where he will hold his first meeting with Britain’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham.
His visit is a “tremendous symbol,” said Tobias Cremer, a European lawmaker from Germany and the main sponsor of a March resolution calling for stronger EU-Canada cooperation.
“Canada has many of the resources that Europe is very much short of, whether it’s in terms of energy, whether it’s rare earths (and) raw minerals,” Cremer told AFP.
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