PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May will announce a new treaty on how to handle migrants hoping to head to Britain, the French presidency said Wednesday.

The treaty, set to be announced at a summit in London on Thursday, will "complete the Le Touquet accord", Macron's office said in reference to a 2003 deal that effectively put Britain's border in northern France.

The details are "still being finalised", the French presidency said, but the treaty will include measures on how to manage unaccompanied minors, and Britain will make a "major" financial contribution.

The original text, which came into force in February 2004, implemented joint controls at coastal ports in both countries as Britain, which is not part of Europe's Schengen visa-free zone, looked to bolster efforts to keep migrants out.

Later accords led to Britain financing some of the controls and security operations in Calais, just across the English Channel from its own port in Dover.

Calais has long been a sore point in French-British relations, and Macron on Wednesday called for better cooperation in managing the border with Britain ahead of his first trip to London as president.

- Record asylum claims -

 Migrants hoping to stow away on trucks bound for Britain have long been drawn to France's northern coast, with the squalid "Jungle" camp near Calais once housing some 10,000 people before it was bulldozed by the government in late 2016.

Hundreds of migrants remain in the area, with police routinely breaking up makeshift camps of people hoping to head to Britain, a favoured destination for Afghans and east Africans.

French officials argue the Le Touquet deal has worsened Europe's migrant crisis by creating a huge backflow of migrants in the area, lured by a belief that it is easier to secure asylum and work permits in Britain.

A French human rights commission in 2015 said the accord had made France the "police branch" of Britain's immigration policies.

Macron made a renegotiation of the Le Touquet deal one of his campaign pledges, and Interior Minister Gerard Collomb signalled Tuesday that Paris would ask Britain to take in more refugees from northern France and increase its funding.

"It's in their interests that things go well," Collomb said.

In November, Collomb said there were about 300,000 undocumented migrants in France, and the government registered a record 100,000 asylum claims last year.</s>LONDON — Britain said Wednesday that it will send three Royal Air Force helicopters to join France's military mission against Islamic militants in Africa's Sahel region as part of closer U.K.-French intelligence and military .

The two countries will promise to step up efforts against violent extremism during a Thursday meeting between British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron at the Sandhurst military academy near London.

The British government says May will announce she is sending three Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and dozens of personnel to Mali to provide logistical support for thousands of French troops fighting alongside African forces in a counterterrorism mission. France has led efforts to fight al-Qaida and IS-linked jihadi groups in the vast Sahel region south of the Sahara desert.

The leaders of the five main U.K. and French spy agencies are also meeting for the first time Thursday, as the two countries seek to increase intelligence-sharing. France and Britain have both faced a string of violent attacks by extremists inspired or directed by the Islamic State group.

May said U.K.-French summit "will underline that we remain committed to defending our people and upholding our values as liberal democracies in the face of any threat, whether at home or abroad."

One topic not high on the agenda is Brexit. Britain wants the meeting to underscore how the close relationship between the two won't suffer when Britain leaves the EU in 2019.

In the crisply martial surroundings of Sandhurst, where army officers have been trained since the days of the British Empire, senior ministers from the two countries will sign agreements on everything from space exploration to tackling online extremism.

In a boost to Macron, Britain is throwing its backing behind the European Intervention Initiative, a multinational European military force that the French president has proposed. He also wants a common European budget and security doctrine.

The plan is in its early stages, but British officials don't see it as an "EU army," an idea on which the U.K. has long been cool.

One point of tension between the countries is a 2003 deal that placed British border controls in Calais, on the French side of the English Channel. The town has become a magnet for migrants hoping to reach Britain, and the accord puts the burden of blocking their entry to the U.K. on France.

Macron wants Britain to take a bigger share of the burden by taking in more child migrants from Calais and paying more into development projects.

Britain hasn't said whether it will agree. But May's spokesman, James Slack, said the existing agreement had been "very beneficial to the U.K."

"If there were a request for further help in terms of security, we would look at (it)," he said.

Macron, on his first visit to Britain since winning the presidency in May 2017, brought a gift: an agreement for France to loan Britain the Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century panorama depicting the Norman conquest of England.</s>In a gesture of abiding friendship, or perhaps a subtle act of diplomatic trolling, French President Emmanuel Macron will offer to loan Britain the famed Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the French conquest of England, during his visit to the UK on Thursday.

The 40-year-old French leader likes to accompany his diplomacy with symbolic moves and gifts as he sets about trying to restore France's international prestige.

On a trip to Beijing, he offered the Chinese president a French stallion, while Russian leader Vladimir Putin was given a tour around an exhibition at the Versailles Palace last year that marked 300 years of Franco-Russian friendship.

In Britain on Thursday, Macron will offer to transport the 70-metre-long (230-foot) Bayeux Tapestry to Britain for the first time, in an unprecedented and technically difficult journey for the priceless thousand-year-old artwork.

"It will not be before 2020 because it's an extremely fragile cultural treasure which will be subject to major restoration work before being transported anywhere," an official in Macron's office said Wednesday.

The tapestry, which dates from around 1077, depicts the famed Battle of Hastings when William the Conqueror from France defeated English forces in southern England.

The story of the 1066 military defeat, in which the English King Harold famously died after taking a French arrow in the eye, is still taught to British school children and is a founding moment in the long and bloody history of Anglo-French rivalry.

"It is very significant that the Bayeux Tapestry is going to be coming to the UK and that people are going to be able to see this," British Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday.

Many historians and politicians on Monday welcomed the gesture as a friendly move that underlined the two countries' shared history and intermingled blood at a time when Britain is leaving the European Union.

"It's an absolutely fantastic opportunity for British people from around the country to come, I hope to the British Museum, and see it in all its glory," said Tom Tugendhat, chairman of a foreign affairs committee at the British parliament.

"This is a real demonstration on how diplomacy is done," he told BBC radio.

But other commentators wondered exactly what Macron was trying to say by focusing on an inglorious moment in British military history.

The Times newspaper published a cartoon showing Macron in Middle Ages military garb skewering British Prime Minister Theresa May: "Emmanuel The Conqueror: It's One In The Eye for Theresa Regina."

Writing on Twitter, broadcast journalist Robert Peston commented that "lending the UK a magnificent depiction of the last time this country was invaded and subjugated is a wonderful Gallic joke by Emmanuel Macron."

Jockeying over who would display the work was already underway, with the British Museum's director Hartwig Fischer saying he would be "delighted" to show the work.

Lawmakers representing the seaside town of Hastings, as well as the village of Battle, where the historic clash took place, are also hoping for the honour.

"I'm sure we will be looking very carefully to ensure the maximum number of people can take benefit from seeing this tapestry," May said.

The loan might also reopen an unsettled argument about the creators of the tapestry, which has rarely moved from its home in a museum in Bayeux in France.

It was displayed in Paris in 1804 and again briefly at the Louvre Museum in 1945.

"There is a reasonable case that it could have been made in Canterbury" in southern England, British historian David Musgrove, who authored a book on the subject, told the BBC.

Other theories are that it was made in Bayeux itself or perhaps in an abbey in the Loire region of central France.

French historian Pierre Bouet said the tapestry should be seen by Britons as evidence of the role of France in the country's history.

The tapestry "is a reminder of the military exploit of the founder of the current royal dynasty," Bouet told AFP. "Even if he doesn't descend directly from him, Prince Charles is aware that he has the blood of William the Conqueror in his veins."

The British royal family still has the French words "Dieu Et Mon Droit" (God and my Right) on its coat of arms.

Macron will hold talks with May at Sandhurst, a British military academy outside London, on Thursday.</s>In his first year in office, French President Emmanuel Macron held a speech in the port city, Calais. On Tuesday, he gave a speech and vowed to tighten up measures against the migrant problem in France.

In this visit, Macron asserted his ambitions and what will happen moving forward with regards to migrants in the region. According to the New York Times, he said this specific part of France would never again be a dumping ground for them.

“Under no circumstances will we allow the Jungle to come back,” he told the officers, referring to the squalid encampment that once housed over 8,000 migrants near here, and that was torn down by Mr. Macron’s predecessor in the fall of 2016.

The Times analysis goes on to add in spite of the recent crackdowns the number of migrants is 600. These several hundreds of migrants are younger Eritreans, Sudanese, and Afghans.

In spite of Macron trying to project a new direction in Calais, he was instead met with opposition and critique. As stated by the French daily, Le Monde, leading intellectuals along with a one-time top adviser of a think tank accused Macron of breaking with the humanism he once advocated.

What is interesting is the current position Macron took on Tuesday at Calais compared to the campaign when he ran for president. He once promoted a platform that would welcome migrants whereas his former National Front opponent, Marine Le Pen, sought to establish harsher immigration measures.

Macron added that it was okay to openly criticize the government and its policies. However, the distinction should be made that citizens can be skeptical of government officials but not their functionaries. In other words, disrespecting civil servants is unacceptable.

Elsewhere, the visit to the port city had another agenda in mind. Macron is looking to modify an agreement between France and the UK, as claimed by France 24. Specifically, the French head of state wants to change a 2003 border control agreement that allows British officials to help carry out checks in Calais. What this does is it moves the British border to the French port and spares Britain from receiving an influx of migrants.

The president of France is scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May this Thursday. They will discuss the migrant problem.

Macron said the three points he plans to raise with May include “better management of the issue of unaccompanied minors, reinforced police cooperation in Calais and with the countries of origin and transit and getting British funds for development projects in Calais.”

France’s current direction has shown a deviation from the campaign promises made by Macron and his current administration. Furthermore, how the meeting will go is also uncertain. The UK is already undertaking the necessary steps towards a definitive Brexit on March 29, 2019. So, how all of these developments evolve is impossible to predict until both leaders sit down and discuss the matters at hand.</s>CAMBERLEY, England (AP) - The Latest on the meeting Thursday between French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May (all times local):

French President Emmanuel Macron says Britain and France have signed a treaty to improve the management of their common border and to deal more humanely with migrants.

Macron says the Sandhurst Treaty was signed by the two countries’ interior ministers at a summit Thursday at Britain’s Sandhurst military academy.

He says it will cut the time it takes to process migrants who gather in the northern French port of Calais hoping to reach Britain, and to treat them more humanely and efficiently. Macron wants Britain to take more migrants from Calais but no figure was given Thursday.

Macron says the border issue “is a common challenge and we shall succeed together.”

In a significant gesture, British Prime Minister Theresa May has offered funds to ease French annoyance over a 2003 deal that placed British border controls in Calais, on the French side of the English Channel.

The town has become a magnet for migrants hoping to reach Britain, and the accord puts the burden of blocking their entry to the U.K. on France.

Britain agreed Thursday to pay 44.5 million pounds ($62 million) for fences, security cameras and other measures in Calais and nearby English Channel ports. France also wants Britain to take in more migrants from Calais, especially unaccompanied children, but there was no announcement on that issue.

The U.K. also said it will send three Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters and dozens of personnel to join France’s military mission against Islamic militants in Africa’s Sahel region. France has led efforts to fight al-Qaida and IS-linked jihadi groups in the vast region south of the Sahara desert.

The leaders of Britain and France have met against a military backdrop, with the U.K. promising to help boost border security in France and support French military missions as part of moves to bind the countries closer together after Brexit.

The announcement came as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron held a bilateral summit Thursday intended to strengthen security and intelligence ties between the neighboring nations, and to build goodwill as Britain negotiates its exit from the European Union.

The venue - the Sandhurst military academy southwest of London - was selected as a signal that the relationship between western Europe’s two biggest military powers won’t be weakened once the U.K. leaves the EU in 2019.

It’s Macron’s first visit to Britain since he became president of France in May 2017.</s>Britain said Wednesday that it will send three Royal Air Force helicopters to join France's military mission against Islamic militants in Africa's Sahel region as part of closer U.K.-French intelligence and military cooperation.

The two countries will promise to step up efforts against violent extremism during a Thursday meeting between British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron at the Sandhurst military academy near London.

The British government says May will announce she is sending three Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and dozens of personnel to Mali to provide logistical support for thousands of French troops fighting alongside African forces in a counterterrorism mission. France has led efforts to fight al-Qaida and IS-linked jihadi groups in the vast Sahel region south of the Sahara desert.

The leaders of the five main U.K. and French spy agencies are also meeting for the first time Thursday, as the two countries seek to increase intelligence-sharing. France and Britain have both faced a string of violent attacks by extremists inspired or directed by the Islamic State group.

May said U.K.-French summit "will underline that we remain committed to defending our people and upholding our values as liberal democracies in the face of any threat, whether at home or abroad."

One topic not high on the agenda is Brexit. Britain wants the meeting to underscore how the close relationship between the two neighbors won't suffer when Britain leaves the EU in 2019.

In the crisply martial surroundings of Sandhurst, where army officers have been trained since the days of the British Empire, senior ministers from the two countries will sign agreements on everything from space exploration to tackling online extremism.

In a boost to Macron, Britain is throwing its backing behind the European Intervention Initiative, a multinational European military force that the French president has proposed. He also wants a common European defense budget and security doctrine.

The plan is in its early stages, but British officials don't see it as an "EU army," an idea on which the U.K. has long been cool.

One point of tension between the countries is a 2003 deal that placed British border controls in Calais, on the French side of the English Channel. The town has become a magnet for migrants hoping to reach Britain, and the accord puts the burden of blocking their entry to the U.K. on France.

Macron wants Britain to take a bigger share of the burden by taking in more child migrants from Calais and paying more into development projects.

Britain hasn't said whether it will agree. But May's spokesman, James Slack, said the existing agreement had been "very beneficial to the U.K."

"If there were a request for further help in terms of security, we would look at (it)," he said.

Macron, on his first visit to Britain since winning the presidency in May 2017, brought a gift: an agreement for France to loan Britain the Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century panorama depicting the Norman conquest of England.

The medieval masterpiece depicts a key moment in British history — one with particular resonance as Britain prepares to leave the EU.</s>IN A GESTURE OF abiding friendship, or perhaps a subtle warning, French President Emmanuel Macron will offer Britain a loan of the famed Bayeux Tapestry – which depicts the French conquest of England.

The 40-year-old French leader is due to visit the UK today to sign a treaty with British Prime Minister Theresa May on policing the port of Calais, which links the two countries; as well as discuss European security measures.

Since his election last year, Macron’s developed a name for himself for symbolic moves and gifts to other world leaders, as he sets about establishing new French diplomatic ties following political uncertainty in the UK and US.

On a trip to Beijing, he offered the Chinese president a French stallion, while Russian leader Vladimir Putin was given a tour around an exhibition at the Versailles Palace last year that marked 300 years of Franco-Russian friendship.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is given a tour of the Galerie des Batailles by Macron in May last year. Source: PA Images

Transporting the 70-metre-long Bayeux Tapestry to Britain for the first time will be a technically difficult journey for the priceless thousand-year-old artwork.

“It will not be before 2020 because it’s an extremely fragile cultural treasure which will be subject to major restoration work before being transported anywhere,” an official in Macron’s office said yesterday.

What is the Bayeux Tapestry?

The tapestry, which dates from around 1077, depicts the famed Battle of Hastings when William the Conqueror from France defeated English forces in southern England.

The story of the 1066 military defeat, in which the English King Harold famously died after taking a French arrow in the eye, is still taught to British school children and is a founding moment in the long and bloody history of Anglo-French rivalry.

“It is very significant that the Bayeux Tapestry is going to be coming to the UK and that people are going to be able to see this,” Theresa May said in response to the offer.

Many historians and politicians have welcomed the gesture as a friendly move that underlined the two countries’ shared history and intermingled blood at a time when Britain is leaving the European Union.

“It’s an absolutely fantastic opportunity for British people from around the country to come, I hope to the British Museum, and see it in all its glory,” said Tom Tugendhat, chairman of a foreign affairs committee at the British parliament.

“This is a real demonstration on how diplomacy is done,” he told BBC radio.

But other commentators wondered exactly what Macron was trying to say by focusing on an inglorious moment in British military history.

The Times newspaper published a cartoon showing Macron in Middle Ages military garb skewering British Prime Minister Theresa May: “Emmanuel The Conqueror: It’s One In The Eye for Theresa Regina.”

Writing on Twitter, broadcast journalist Robert Peston commented that “lending the UK a magnificent depiction of the last time this country was invaded and subjugated is a wonderful Gallic joke by Emmanuel Macron”.

Jockeying over who would display the work is already underway, with the British Museum’s director Hartwig Fischer saying he would be “delighted” to show the work.

Lawmakers representing the seaside town of Hastings, as well as the village of Battle, where the historic clash took place, are also hoping for the honour.

“I’m sure we will be looking very carefully to ensure the maximum number of people can take benefit from seeing this tapestry,” May said.

The loan might also reopen an unsettled argument about the creators of the tapestry, which has rarely moved from its home in a museum in Bayeux in France.

It was displayed in Paris in 1804 and again briefly at the Louvre Museum in 1945.

“There is a reasonable case that it could have been made in Canterbury” in southern England, British historian David Musgrove, who authored a book on the subject, told the BBC.

Other theories are that it was made in Bayeux itself or perhaps in an abbey in the Loire region of central France.

French historian Pierre Bouet said the tapestry should be seen by Britons as evidence of the role of France in the country’s history.

The tapestry “is a reminder of the military exploit of the founder of the current royal dynasty,” Bouet told AFP.

The British royal family still has the French words “Dieu Et Mon Droit” (God and my Right) on its coat of arms.

Macron will hold talks with May at Sandhurst, a British military academy outside London, later today.

Read: Farage brands Varadkar a ‘European unionist’ as he attacks Irish relationship with EU

Read: Speaking English, Irish, French and German, Leo sets out stall on Brexit in big EU speech</s>LONDON (AP) - Britain said Wednesday that it will send three Royal Air Force helicopters to join France’s military mission against Islamic militants in Africa’s Sahel region as part of closer U.K.-French intelligence and military cooperation.

The two countries will promise to step up efforts against violent extremism during a Thursday meeting between British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron at the Sandhurst military academy near London.

The British government says May will announce she is sending three Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and dozens of personnel to Mali to provide logistical support for thousands of French troops fighting alongside African forces in a counterterrorism mission. France has led efforts to fight al-Qaida and IS-linked jihadi groups in the vast Sahel region south of the Sahara desert.

The leaders of the five main U.K. and French spy agencies are also meeting for the first time Thursday, as the two countries seek to increase intelligence-sharing. France and Britain have both faced a string of violent attacks by extremists inspired or directed by the Islamic State group.

May said U.K.-French summit “will underline that we remain committed to defending our people and upholding our values as liberal democracies in the face of any threat, whether at home or abroad.”

One topic not high on the agenda is Brexit. Britain wants the meeting to underscore how the close relationship between the two neighbors won’t suffer when Britain leaves the EU in 2019.

In the crisply martial surroundings of Sandhurst, where army officers have been trained since the days of the British Empire, senior ministers from the two countries will sign agreements on everything from space exploration to tackling online extremism.

In a boost to Macron, Britain is throwing its backing behind the European Intervention Initiative, a multinational European military force that the French president has proposed. He also wants a common European defense budget and security doctrine.

The plan is in its early stages, but British officials don’t see it as an “EU army,” an idea on which the U.K. has long been cool.

One point of tension between the countries is a 2003 deal that placed British border controls in Calais, on the French side of the English Channel. The town has become a magnet for migrants hoping to reach Britain, and the accord puts the burden of blocking their entry to the U.K. on France.

Macron wants Britain to take a bigger share of the burden by taking in more child migrants from Calais and paying more into development projects.

Britain hasn’t said whether it will agree. But May’s spokesman, James Slack, said the existing agreement had been “very beneficial to the U.K.”

“If there were a request for further help in terms of security, we would look at (it),” he said.

Macron, on his first visit to Britain since winning the presidency in May 2017, brought a gift: an agreement for France to loan Britain the Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century panorama depicting the Norman conquest of England.

The medieval masterpiece depicts a key moment in British history - one with particular resonance as Britain prepares to leave the EU.</s>The comments come as the French President Emmanuel Macron visited the port and spoke in Calais. Mr Macron has called for Britain to pay France more for border security in the port. Speaking to Channel 4 News, one pensioner simply called for the border to be moved back to the UK. She said: “It’s horrible, it feels like a real prison here.

“The place is dead. It’s better if we move the border back to Britain.” Mr Macron met with police as he spoke at their HQ in Calais. He said: “Everything is done so that illegal passage to the United Kingdom is not possible. Calais must not be a secret gateway to England. “The fundamental challenge is to ensure the security of the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel.”

Mr Macron said there would be no repeat of the Jungle – the refugee camp that housed some 8,000 men, women and children before being razed at the end of 2016. “Whatever happens, we will not allow a new Jungle in Calais,” said Mr Macron. Around 700 people are still sleeping rough in and around Calais. British taxpayers have paid £125million towards border security at Calais in the past three years.

Leading Brexiteer Nigel Farage criticised Mr Macron for demanding more cash for the Calais border. On Monday he said: “This guy is blackmailing us and we should stand up to behaviour like this.” Tory MP Tim Loughton has also criticised the French President. He said: “In the last three years we have given £124million to France to build fences and make life safer for drivers. We've paid them to make their trade easier!" Fears have been raised that if the UK yes not reach a good deal with the EU, it may threaten the Le Touquet Accord which puts Britain’s border in France and France’s at Dover in Kent.</s>Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron inspected British troops today as cold rain battered Sandhurst.

The Prime Minister and French President stood on a dais overlooking the Parade Square as the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards presented their bayonet-tipped SA80 rifles.

The band struck up the French national anthem La Marseillaise as the leaders arrived at the Royal Military Academy, walking the final 300 yards after stepping out of Mrs May's dark green armoured Jaguar XJL.

Amid high-security at Sandhurst, they watched mounted soldiers from the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery before a fly past of a 1,550mph RAF Typhoon fighter and a 1,200mph French air force Dassault Rafale.

Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson stood and watched the ceremony before meetings with their French counterparts.

Earlier, Mrs May and Mr Macron tucked into lunch at a pub owned by chat show host Sir Michael Parkinson

lunch at the Michelin-starred Royal Oak in Littlefield Green, in the PM's constituency of Maidenhead, Berks.

Their slap-up meal was cooked by Craig Johnston, last year's winner of MasterChef: The Professionals.

He prepared dressed crab, blood orange and radicchio and sorrel to start, followed by carver duck breast, roasted onion tartlet and beetroot purée.

They washed down their food with two French wines: a riesling and a 2013 Domaine Grand Romane.

Mr Macron is a flying visit to Britain for the 35th UK-France Summit.

It is his first trip to the country since winning last year's race for the Elysee Palace.

He and Mrs May will hold talks on defence and security, including the Anglo-French order at Calais, before giving a press conference later.
French President Emmanuel Macron meets with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.