Macron and Carney Pledge Closer Ties at Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Meeting

The leaders of France and Canada pledged to deepen their partnership on Sunday, meeting in the French archipelago of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon off Canada's Atlantic coast to address what they described as mounting global pressures.

The visit was the first by a French president to the territory since 2014 and the first ever by a Canadian prime minister. It came weeks after US President Donald Trump shared an image on social media showing the islands, along with Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, draped in the US flag and labelled "United States of America". French Caribbean territories also appeared in the post.

Speaking alongside his French counterpart, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said societies were being tested by climate change, weakening democratic norms and new threats to sovereignty, adding that the moment called for stronger bilateral ties. President Emmanuel Macron said the two countries would pursue closer cooperation in areas including space, climate and energy, and described shared commitments to democracy, the rule of law, international law, free and fair trade and scientific decision-making.

Asked about Trump's post, Macron rejected any suggestion that the islands were not French, saying he did not need to restate the point daily simply because some people express unusual ideas.

Diplomats said the meeting carried symbolic weight given the US president's social media post. For Paris, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon holds strategic value because of its position near the United States and the Arctic, and it plays a central role in French cooperation with Canada, including on energy.

Macron, whose government faces domestic pressure over rising fuel prices, said the talks had opened the way for bilateral discussions aimed at concrete agreements. Paris hopes Canada will expand liquefied natural gas exports to Europe rather than directing them primarily to Asia, and Macron said Canadian LNG projects could play an important role for the continent.

The two leaders also discussed Canada's relationship with the European Union, after the bloc opened the door to Ottawa becoming its first associate member — a move Macron said France supports. Deeper integration is likely to face obstacles, however: more than a decade after the EU and Canada concluded the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, and nine years after it began provisional application, several member states, including France, have yet to ratify it.