Mark Carney will attend next month’s annual address by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, a European official said Wednesday, as Ottawa seeks closer ties with the bloc amid a worsening rift with Washington. A European Commission official told AFP the Canadian prime minister has accepted an invitation to attend von der Leyen’s Sept. 16 speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The State of the Union address is billed as a chance for the Commission president to set the bloc’s priorities for the coming year. It comes a little over a month before the next summit between the EU and Ottawa, to take place in Canada on Oct. 29-30. Carney has been seeking to bolster EU ties as part of a broader push for so-called middle powers to unite, faced with a “rupture in the world order” under U.S. President Donald Trump. As his country spirals into trade war with its neighbour and longtime ally, the Canadian leader has adopted a combative stance -- while pushing to build alternative trade partnerships and boost military spending. The EU has likewise been working hard to diversify its international partnerships in the face of an increasingly adversarial U.S. administration.
