French newspaper that mocked Boris Johnson welcomes Sunak friendship

Rishi Sunak is pictured in an embrace with French president Emmanuel Macron on the newspaper Libération’s front page.

(Liberation/Getty/iStock)

French newspaper Libération has given prime minister Rishi Sunak largely favourable coverage compared to his predecessor Boris Johnson.

The current PM is pictured in an embrace with French president Emmanuel Macron on the newspaper’s front page today.

Libération celebrated talks being held between Mr Sunak and Mr Macron in France, leading with the headline: “Happy to see you again”.

(Liberation)

The newspaper reported: “After several stormy years linked to Brexit, Paris and London are trying to start again this Friday with a summit.”

It comes as prime minister Sunak held talk with president Macron on Friday, as they seek to normalise relations post-Brexit in the first UK-France summit in five years.

However, Emmanuel Macron is expected to reject British calls to return small boat asylum seekers to France, after his calls for more safe and legal routes to the UK were ignored.

A French diplomatic source said that Mr Sunak’s newly unveiled plan to turn away all migrants on small boats has not persuaded Paris to change its stance. “The general assessment has not changed,” they said.

(Liberation)

(Liberation)

The coverage is in contrast to the newspaper’s coverage of Boris Johnson. A front page featured a picture of one of Johnson’s most memorable photo opportunities, when he slid down a zip wire ahead of the London Olympics in 2012, waving two British flags, only to become stuck, with the headline: “GOOD LUCK”.

Meanwhile, another front page following the former Prime Minister’s General Election victory showed Mr Johnson’s face edited on to an image of the Queen, reporting that: ‘with the Conservatives broad victory in the general election, the British have now entrusted a clear mandate to Boris Johnson to finalize the divorce from the European Union.”