Britain’s new foreign minister Boris Johnson was to meet with his European counterparts for the first time on Monday, in what will likely be a fence-mending trip to Brussels for the outspoken politician who led the victorious Brexit campaign.
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“People who read the things in their proper context can understand what was intended”.
“Whilst Mr Johnson has enjoyed a close working relationship with The Daily Telegraph for over 20 years, it would not be appropriate for him to continue writing his long-standing column for the newspaper given his new role as foreign secretary”, his spokesman said.
It was a controversial appointment thanks to comments the former journalist has made about leaders including Turkey’s President Tayyip Recep Erdogan and U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who Johnson once described as “like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital”.
Johnson and Mogherini met privately in Brussels on Sunday evening and “had a good exchange on the main issues on the agenda today”, the European Union official said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has said Mr Johnson “lied a lot” to turn British public opinion against the EU.
Shortly after the referendum passed last month, Johnson stunned his nation when he announced that he would not be pursuing the duties of Prime Minister of the UK.
Boris Johnson will share the Foreign Secretary’s mansion with Cabinet colleagues David Davis and Liam Fox, it has been announced. “I will always talk to Boris Johnson with the greatest sincerity, the greatest frankness, I think it’s like that we have to move on”, Ayrault said.
Boris Johnson is discovering first-hand the perils of the long career in journalism he used to skewer institutions, continents, and world leaders.
He said it would possible to control immigration once Britain had completed the process of leaving the EU.
But he, too, had to face questions about Mr. Obama’s assertion during the referendum campaign that Britain would be “at the back of the queue” when it came to a trade deal with the United States if it voted to leave the EU. It marked another symbolic first: the first participation by a USA secretary of state in an EU Foreign Ministers Council.
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Ten hours later, he said on his way out that Britain wanted to see the European Union develop and go forward, “and all we would say is that to make sure there are docking stations and doors for future United Kingdom involvement down the track”.
