European leaders pay tribute to Starmer as EU-UK summit is postponed

Ursula von der Leyen, Merz and Zelenskyy say UK PM helped increase European and Ukrainian security

European leaders have paid tribute to Keir Starmer after he announced his resignation as prime minister, triggering the postponement of an upcoming EU-UK summit.

The European Council president, António Costa, said “for sure we need to postpone it, but we are reassessing the opportunity to hold this new summit”.

He added: “My wish is ⁠that [Starmer’s] successor ​will give ​continuity on ​this path to ​reset ‌our relationship ​with ​the UK.”

Soon after Starmer’s resignation speech at No 10, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen , tweeted: “It can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years. European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you. Thank you, dear Keir.”

The annual EU-UK summit was announced for 22 July only last week, after weeks of uncertainty and delay. With the most likely next UK prime minister, Andy Burnham, who is unlikely to face a contest, Starmer’s last outing on the world stage could be the Nato summit in Ankara on 7-8 July.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, thanked Starmer for “all our cooperation, your support, and the joint decisions that have helped make our Europe and our protection of life stronger”. While Kyiv expressed frustration with UK support during the early part of Starmer’s premiership , Zelenskyy offered warm praise: “Keir, you are always a welcome guest in Ukraine.”

The Kremlin’s chief spokesperson said Starmer had “not done anything to distinguish himself on the issue of British-Russia relations” adding that it was unlikely anyone on the British political scene would take a different position.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s spokesperson said Keir Starmer had always been “a reliable and close partner in foreign policy questions, particularly regarding Ukraine”. Starmer is expected to attend an E5 meeting on Wednesday in Berlin, where Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Poland will prepare for the Nato summit.

Donald Trump offered his best wishes, laced with characteristic attack lines, even before Starmer made his Downing Street announcement. “Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “He failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well!”

After an unexpectedly smooth start between the pair, differences were revealed when Trump disparaged Nato allies, prompting an angry rebuttal from Starmer over the “insulting and frankly appalling” comments about British troops in Afghanistan. Trump also criticised the UK over the Chagos Islands and, most significantly, over Starmer’s refusal to offer military support in the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Trump, who waged an unsuccessful legal battle with the Scottish government to stop a windfarm development near his Aberdeenshire golf course, has also accused Starmer of “windmilling the country to death”.

Other traditional allies struck a different note. Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he was thinking of his friend on “what must be a very tough day. Serving in public life is a tremendous privilege but politics can also be a harsh business.”

Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, also a centre-left leader, said: “The United Kingdom is Norway’s close ally in Europe, and over the past two years our countries have grown even closer through important agreements.”

Before he announced the postponement of the summit, Costa said under Starmer’s premiership “we turned a new page in EU-UK relations”.

“The EU is committed to continued cooperation in this spirit,” he added, describing Starmer as a friend.

At the postponed EU-UK summit, the two sides hoped to sign agreements on a food and drink deal to ease border checks, linking emissions trading systems and a youth mobility programme.

Post-referendum EU-UK relations turned a corner under the last Conservative prime minister, Rishi Sunak, in 2023 with the signing of a Northern Ireland Brexit deal. Relations became warmer when Starmer won power in July 2024, although many EU officials thought the government’s reset hopes were unrealistic.

While the EU and UK signed a security partnership in May 2025, the two sides failed to find an agreement on British participation in the EU’s €150bn SAFE defence loans scheme.

Speaking to the Guardian earlier this month, Germany’s former Europe minister Micael Roth, who was Starmer’s counterpart during the Brexit negotiation years, said: “We cannot be happy if a close partner is in such a very, very challenging, difficult situation.

“We very much hoped for a more stable government.” He added that Germany, France and Spain were among the European countries also afflicted by political troubles.