Summary of the day
Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, had lunch with France’s Emmanuel Macron, as part of his ongoing visit to Europe.
The leaders met in the Pyrenees. Xi said he would give the ham some publicity and also praised the cheese.
Earlier, Xi and Macron called for a ceasefire in Gaza and for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a statement published by the Chinese government.
Xi also voiced his support for Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations.
The Chinese leader hit out against Nato over the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Serbia, when three people died in 1999 after a US strike accidentally hit the compound during Nato’s air campaign against Serb forces occupying Kosovo.
In a letter to Serbian website Politika ahead of his visit to Serbia, Xi said China should “never forget” the bombing which killed three Chinese journalists.
Polish services have found and dismantled bugging devices in a room where the council of ministers was scheduled to meet today.
Authorities searched the European parliament office of Maximilian Krah, the Alternative for Germany party’s top candidate in the European elections.
A group of members of the European parliament has asked for Georgia’s EU candidate status to be “suspended without any further progress in the accession process.”
Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, greeted Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the airport and took them to lunch high up in the Pyrenees, Reuters reported.
They watched traditional dancers perform under the snowy peaks and then ate locally grown ham, lamb, cheese and blueberry pie. Xi said he would give the ham some publicity and also praised the cheese.
Reuters reported that the French president gifted his Chinese counterpart a woollen blanket made in the Pyrenees, a Tour de France jersey and armagnac from the nearby southwestern region. The brandy is at risk of Chinese trade sanctions.
