Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson claims he would assure his EU counterparts that Britain would continue to cooperate with them once it leaves the bloc, as reported on last month’s referendum.
Boris Johnson commented on arrival at the EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels:
The message I’ll be taking to our friends in the council is that we have to give effect to the will of the people and leave the European Union but that in no sense means that we are leaving Europe. We are not going to be in any way abandoning our leading role in European cooperation and participation of all kinds.”
Federica Mogherini
Johnson had on Sunday met EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, with both stressing their meeting had been held in good spirits, discussing a joint response to the failed coup in Turkey and the militant attack in Nice.
Johnson shared:
On Turkey, I think it’s very important in view of the failed coup that we see restraint and moderation on all sides and that’s what I’ll be calling for.”
Asked how ministers would find working with Johnson, who during the Brexit campaign compared the EU to Hitler’s plan to dominate Europe, Mogherini simply said her exchange with him on Sunday evening had been “very positive”.