The EU is planning to invite the UK’s next prime minister to a summit of European states next month as it seeks to build regional co-operation in the face of Russian aggression. Invitations to the meeting in Prague on October 6 have not yet been dispatched, but officials say the UK is likely to be on the list, alongside leaders from other EU neighbours, including Ukraine, Moldova and Balkan countries. The grouping, tentatively dubbed the European Political Community, was floated by French president Emmanuel Macron in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in May as a forum for countries adhering to the EU’s core values and permitting co-operation in areas such as security, energy and infrastructure.
 It is intended to be a vehicle for deepening relations between the EU and its neighbours, among them aspiring EU member states such as Ukraine and Moldova which may face decades of waiting before they join the union. European Council president Charles Michel set out his plans for such a grouping shortly after Macron, calling for a “geopolitical community that extends from Reykjavik to Baku or Yerevan, from Oslo to Ankara,” saying it could promote “peace, stability and security on our continent”. Deciding whether to accept such an invitation would provide an early test of the next prime minister’s appetite for deepening the UK’s dialogue with its closest neighbours. Earlier this year, Liz Truss, who is the frontrunner in the Conservative party leadership contest, told a House of Commons committee that the UK’s focus was on Nato and the G7 rather than the body mooted by Macron.
 Deciding whether to accept such an invitation would provide an early test of the next prime minister’s appetite for deepening the UK’s dialogue with its closest neighbours. Earlier this year, Liz Truss, who is the frontrunner in the Conservative party leadership contest, told a House of Commons committee that the UK’s focus was on Nato and the G7 rather than the body mooted by Macron. Last month Truss said the “jury’s out” when asked if Macron was a friend or foe. The hope, said one official, is to show the democracies in the EU’s neighbourhood are on the same side at a time when regional peace is under threat because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.