Grounded: Macron Tells UK to 'Get Serious' If It Wants to Discuss, Resolve Illegal Immigration Issue

The two countries have for months been accusing each other of failing to deal with the problem of illegal immigrants trying to cross over from France into the UK. The immigration issue will be discussed at the EU ministers' meeting on 28 November, from which, however, the UK was uninvited.
Sputnik
French President Emmanuel Macron has snapped back at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for publishing his letter with a proposal of a bilateral deal on immigration on Twitter, stressing that this is not the way to conduct diplomacy. Macron suggested that London should change its attitude and noted that France will once again be ready to discuss the issue with the UK once it gets "serious".
"You do not communicate via tweets and open letters. We are not whistle-blowers. The [EU] ministers will work seriously to settle serious issues with serious people […] We will then see how to move forward efficiently with the British, if they decide to get serious".
Emmanuel Macron
French President
Macron's rebuff comes as the two countries trade accusations of being responsible for the continuing flow of illegal migrants from France to the UK that has frequently led to tragedies at sea. On 24 November, a boat with migrants capsized near the coast of Calais, France leading to the death of at least 27 people.
Priti Patel was invited to a meeting of EU ministers aimed at finding a solution to the ongoing illegal immigration flow from France to the UK. The latest numbers suggest that some 25,776 crossed the English Channel in 2021, as opposed to 8,461 a year ago and 1,835 in 2019.
However, several days ahead of the meeting, Boris Johnson published an open letter to Macron in which he called on Paris to sign an agreement so that London could return detained migrants to French soil. He also proposed to organise joint patrols along France's shores as London continues to accuse Paris of a lack of oversight over its waters and what is leaving them – specifically smugglers' boats.
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France responded by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin uninviting Patel from the upcoming meeting of EU ministers. Darmanin added that Paris was "fed up with [the UK’s] double-talk". The rest of the attendees from EU member states are still expected to meet on the appointed date to discuss ways of curbing illegal immigration flows.
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