PRAGUE - British Prime Miniter Liz Truss has described French President Emmanuel Macron a “friend” as they unveiled plans to work together at the first meeting of a new political grouping of nations.

The pair met at the first summit of the European Political Community in Prague, a gathering pushed for by the French president.

There, the pair said they looked forward to “an ambitious package of measures this autumn” to address issue of migration across the Channel.

And in a sign that Ms Truss hopes to improve relations with Mr Macron, she had no hesitation in labelling him a “friend”, just weeks after refusing to do so.

Then-foreign secretary Ms Truss was widely criticised after she declined to say whether Mr Macron was a “friend or foe” when asked during the Tory leadership contest.

Mr Macron later suggested it was a “problem” if Britain could not call itself a friend of France.

But Prime Minister Ms Truss adopted a different tone ahead of a meeting with Mr Macron in Prague on Thursday.

During her campaign for the Tory leadership, Truss had refused to say whether the French President was a “friend or foe”.

But now the Ms Truss appears to seek a thaw in relations and was in the Czech capital of Prague for the first meeting of the European Political Community, a new group dedicated to advancing security and energy cooperation across the continent.

She told broadcasters: “I work very, very closely with President Macron and the French government and what we’re talking about is how the UK and France can work more closely together to build more nuclear power stations and to make sure that both countries have energy security in the future.

“We’re both very clear the foe is Vladimir Putin, who has through his appalling war in Ukraine threatened freedom and democracy in Europe and pushed up energy prices which we’re now all having to deal with.”

Asked if he was then a friend, Ms Truss said: “He is a friend.”

The bi-lateral meeting between the two leaders, which took place towards the end of the day, appeared to signal some progress on the issues of migration and energy, both areas Ms Truss had raised as priorities ahead of the summit.

“Thank you for being here,” Mr Macron told the PM when they met.

It also emerged that the two countries have agreed to hold a joint summit next year to “take forward a renewed bilateral agenda”, in a further sign of the desire for warmer relations between the two countries.

On migration, a joint statement said the leaders “agreed to deepen cooperation on illegal migration within the bounds of international law, to tackle criminal groups trafficking people across Europe, ending in dangerous journeys across the Channel”.

As well as stressing a “determination to provide all necessary support to Ukraine for as long as it takes to restore Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity”, the two leaders also discussed future co-operation on energy.

“They confirmed the full support of the UK and French governments for the new nuclear power station at Sizewell and expect the relevant bodies to finalise arrangements in the coming month,” the statement said.

“The leaders committed to advance and increase UK-France civil-nuclear co-operation, including on innovation, infrastructure development and workforce skills, ahead of next year’s UK-France summit.

“They further agreed to deepen co-operation on illegal migration within the bounds of international law, to tackle criminal groups trafficking people across Europe, ending in dangerous journeys across the Channel.

“Interior ministers should conclude an ambitious package of measures this autumn.

“Leaders agreed to reinforce co-operation with near neighbours, including through an early meeting of the Calais group.”

What is the European Political Community?

Liz Truss is in Prague for the inaugural summit of the European Political Community (EPC), a new forum proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron to bring together EU nations and those outside the bloc.Image removed.

The meeting is a 44 nation-strong “smorgasbord of speeches, one-to-one meetings and roundtables in the Czech capital”, said Politico’s London Playbook, “with the Russian war in Ukraine and the resulting fuel crisis dominating the agenda”.

The prime minister will make her second speech in as many days, seeking this time “to convince the gathering that the UK has continued to play a leading role in Europe despite Brexit”, said Sky News.

Truss will tell her fellow European premiers: “Europe is facing its biggest crisis since the Second World War and we have faced it together with unity and resolve. We must continue to stand firm - to ensure that Ukraine wins this war, but also to deal with the strategic challenges that it has exposed.”

Described by The Guardian’s Jennifer Rankin as an “ardent convert to Brexit”, Truss has remained sceptical about the EPC and she set out some of these reservations in an op-ed for The Times.

“I welcome the opportunity to work with leaders from across the continent in this new forum,” she wrote. “But this must not cut across the G7 and Nato, and it must not be a talking shop. I want to see concrete action.”

Part of the reason Truss is attending is because “British diplomats have been reassured that the EU is not going to dominate the body”, said The Guardian’s Rankin. But while her attendance will be viewed as a “mark of unity”, there is nobody who “expects the gathering to resolve deep and lingering post-Brexit conflicts”, she added.

What is the EPC?

The summit is the brainchild of Macron, who hopes it can bring together European nations from within and outside the EU.

The French president announced it in May, in a speech to mark Europe Day. He said that leaders had a “historic obligation” to form a “new European organisation” that “would allow democratic European nations to find a new space for political cooperation, security, cooperation in energy, transport, investment, infrastructure [and] the movement of people”.

The EPC includes the leaders of the EU, as well as candidate countries such as Ukraine, the western Balkans and Turkey, and neighbours that explicitly do not want to be in the union, such as Norway, Switzerland and the UK.

Why is Truss attending?

Truss’s new-found enthusiasm for the group will “raise eyebrows”, said The Independent, given she was explicitly critical of the project just a few months ago when she was foreign secretary.

In June, she said she did not “buy into” a Europe-wide political community. But in a significant volte-face, the prime minister has now even expressed willingness to host the next summit of the EPC in London.

Truss is said to believe that the new group offers an opportunity to rebuild the UK’s relationship with the EU in the wake of Brexit. “It’s good that the EU is thinking about their relationship with us after Brexit and vice-versa,” said one Truss supporter.

The UK’s participation in the summit could also help to ease tensions over the Northern Ireland Protocol, the part of Britain’s Brexit deal with the EU that has proven most controversial.

Many within the EU have welcomed the UK’s participation in the group. They see Truss’s decision to attend as a “positive signal” after the UK’s relationship with Europe turned “sour” under Boris Johnson, particularly over the Northern Ireland Protocol.