SAINT PIERRE, 20 September, 2026 (Nosheen): French President Emmanuel Macron is set to visit the French territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon on Sunday, where he will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in a visit highlighting France’s sovereignty over the archipelago and its close ties with Canada. Macron’s visit, the first by a French president since Francois Hollande travelled there in 2014, comes as Canada seeks to deepen relations with the European Union amid trade tensions with the United States and strained ties with Washington under US President Donald Trump. Located off Canada’s Atlantic coast, Saint Pierre and Miquelon is France’s only remaining territory in North America. French officials said the visit would underscore France’s geostrategic presence in the North Atlantic, maritime sovereignty, climate change challenges and cooperation with Canada. The meeting also carries symbolic significance after Trump recently posted an image on social media depicting several territories, including Saint Pierre and Miquelon and French Caribbean territories, under the US flag. Macron and Carney are expected to discuss the energy crisis and Canada’s increasingly close relationship with the European Union after the bloc opened the possibility of Ottawa becoming its first associate member. However, deeper integration could face challenges, as several EU member states have yet to ratify the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada, despite its provisional application beginning nine years ago.