UK’s Truss to Attend First European Political ‘Club of Nations’

(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Liz Truss will attend a new European political “club of nations,” the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron, early next month, according to a person familiar with her plans.

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The gathering is due to be held Oct. 6 in Prague because the Czech Republic currently holds the rotating European Council presidency. Truss will attend because the nation is an important ally in support of Ukraine, the person said. The issues of migration and security of energy supply also persuaded Truss to go, the person added.

Truss opposed the idea of the club when she was foreign secretary.

Macron designed the new club as a forum for co-operation over issues such as security, energy and transport as well as migration. The grouping is intended to be wider than the European Union’s 27 member states, with Ukraine, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey also likely to be included. For Britain, a question mark hangs over how it engages with its European neighbors since Brexit.

The timing of the meeting is, however, awkward for Truss, coming just days after her appearance at her Conservative Party’s annual conference, where she will be keen to show off her euroskeptic credentials to Tory grassroots members.

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