Fishing: the tone is rising between Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson on the eve of a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 – teller report

It is a muscular interview that awaits Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson this weekend. The French President and the British Prime Minister are due to meet on the sidelines of the G20, in Rome. And the subjects of contention accumulate between the two neighbors: the thorny issue of fishing, but also illegal immigration through the Channel or the consequences of Brexit in Northern Ireland. Proof of the tensions between the two countries, the two men split an update on Friday.

“Make no mistake, this does not only concern the Europeans but all their partners. Because when you spend years negotiating a treaty and a few months later you do the opposite of what has been decided on the that suit you the least, it is not a great proof of your credibility “, Emmanuel Macron told Financial Times. The French president also assured that there had been neither “provocation“neither”voltage“on the question of fishing rights, but “we must respect each other” mutually and “keep the word that has been given”.

What does France reproach the United Kingdom with? Exactly to grant too few post-Brexit fishing licenses to its fishermen. She promised to ban British fishing vessels from unloading their cargo in French ports on Tuesday and to strengthen customs controls on trucks, if the situation does not improve by then.

Far from subsiding before the summit meeting in Rome, the tension rose further on Friday with the threat from London to implement “rigorous controls” on European ships spawning in its waters, if Paris actually carries out its threats, a British government spokesperson said on Friday. The latter also considers “to launch a dispute settlement procedure“provided for in the post-Brexit trade agreement, which entered into force at the start of the year.

“We will do what is necessary to defend British interests”, Boris Johnson told reporters on the plane to Rome. “France is one of our best, our oldest, our closest allies, friends, partners” and “the bonds which unite us, which bind us, are much stronger than the current turbulence in our relation”.

In London, the Ambassador of France to the United Kingdom, Catherine Colonna, was summoned on Friday, an extremely rare step between allied countries. She left without a word after only 20 minutes of interview at the Foreign Office, where Secretary of State Wendy Morton told her. “expressed disappointment at the confrontational tone consistently employed by the French government, which does not make the situation any easier to resolve”, according to the British account.