Macron, Carney set for meeting in Saint Pierre and Miquelon

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to visit Saint Pierre and Miquelon on Sunday, where he will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney amid heightened tensions between Canada, France and the United States.

The visit to the French territory comes weeks after US President Donald Trump shared a social media image depicting the archipelago under the American flag.

Macron’s trip will be his first visit to the territory since French President Francois Hollande travelled there in 2014. French officials said the visit would reaffirm France’s sovereignty over the islands and highlight the close relationship between Paris and Ottawa.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon is located off Canada’s Atlantic coast and is France’s only remaining territory in North America. The small archipelago is home to around 5,800 people but holds strategic importance because of its location near the North Atlantic, the United States and the Arctic.

French officials said the visit would also focus on maritime sovereignty, climate change and cooperation with Canada.

Macron and Carney are expected to discuss the ongoing energy crisis and Canada’s growing ties with the European Union. The bloc has recently indicated that Canada could become its first associate member, potentially creating closer links between Ottawa and the EU.

The meeting comes as Canada faces trade tensions with the United States and seeks to strengthen relations with European partners.

The French president is travelling to Saint Pierre and Miquelon ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where world leaders are due to gather.

The visit also carries diplomatic significance following Trump’s social media post featuring a map of the United States with its flag covering several regions, including Saint Pierre and Miquelon and French territories in the Caribbean.

France did not publicly respond to the post at the time.

Any deeper integration between Canada and the European Union could face challenges. Several EU member states have yet to fully ratify the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the bloc, despite its provisional application since 2017.