Johnson will not be in charge of talks about how the divorce will be arranged.
Advertisement
Vote Leave campaign leader, Boris Johnson, waves as he finishes delivering his speech in London, Britain June 30, 2016. He lied a lot to the British.
The French minister said he needs a negotiating partner who is “clear, credible and reliable” for the upcoming negotiations on Britain’s stated desire to leave the 28-nation EU.
The criticism from the usually buttoned-down Ayrault is nearly without precedent in the discreet world of European politics, where top leaders typically attack one another’s policies, not characters.
The 52-year-old also responded to criticism over his appointment to the role, saying he had received a “charming” letter from the French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.
In a Facebook post just before Johnson’s appointment, the vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, complained: “To accuse people who believe in (the EU) of trying to finish where Hitler left off is, to say the least, a bit rich…”
Osborne will have to vacate his 11 Downing Street office after six years as well as his living quarters above 10 Downing Street which has been traditionally occupied by the United Kingdom s finance minister to give the Prime Minister of the day the larger apartment of the two. Osborne has resigned from the government.
In Paris, Johnson has always been seen as an outrageous “French-basher” and weird English eccentric, once summed up by Le Monde as “a Monty Python-style politician who appears to avoid taking things seriously”. He said: “People are experiencing a rude awakening after irresponsible politicians first lured the country into a Brexit to then, once the decision was made, bolt and not take responsibility”.
Johnson disappeared from public view in the days after last month’s shocking referendum result in favour of a British exit from the European Union and instead played cricket at a friend’s country estate.
After the appointment, Steinmeier tempered his comments somewhat. Rugby-tackling a German player during a friendly game of soccer.
Boris Johnson, the man Theresa May herself claimed had bad negotiating skills as recently as two weeks ago.
“Theresa will be a very different type of Prime Minister than we have seen for the last 40 years”.
More auspicious surrounds: Johnson at the Foreign Office.
“Boris Johnson, King of Brexit, has now been rewarded with the post of foreign secretary, having initially stuck his head in the sand after the vote”.
Johnson’s day-to-day involvement in Brexit negotiations is yet to be defined, and his direct collaboration with European Union colleagues may be limited on the topic.
“There’s a massive difference between leaving the European Union and our relations with Europe, which if anything I think are going to be intensified”, Johnson, who was appointed to his post on Wednesday, told reporters.
Meet the UK’s new Foreign Secretary, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, also known as “BoJo”. Johnson is technically an American, born in NY where his parents were there. The Thomson Reuters/Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 49.4 in July from last month’s 51.2.
Barack Obama didn’t fare much better from Johnson who suggested that the president’s alleged dislike of Britain could stem from his “part-Kenyan” heritage rebelling against British colonialism.
Advertisement
“Dear world. sorry”, read the headline of the UK’s Daily Mirror in the wake of Johnson’s appointment, while U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner seemed to smile with disbelief when he was given the news at a press conference (before hurriedly restoring his expression to a more diplomatic neutrality).
