London celebrates treaty with Australia and the US

aircraft that is from the website politician With Boris Johnson’s hairstyle called “Hair Force One,” landed in New York Monday night. It is Johnson’s first overseas visit in a long time, and his first visit to the White House as British prime minister is also on the schedule. He made a comfortable impression during the flight, report to the journalists present there. He took off his jacket, raised his arms, and started talking. Boris Johnson took off with the satisfaction of a prime minister who had just delivered.

“Delivered” in this context means, at least from Boris Johnson’s point of view, that he specified a slogan that his predecessor had first used shortly after the Brexit referendum. At the Conservative Party convention in 2016, Theresa May spoke of a “global Britain”, then nothing more than an attempt to redefine the role of the United Kingdom after leaving the European Union.

Since then, the slogan has been widely used, notably by the Johnson administration, which in March published a document titled “Integrated Review”: an idea of ​​where the state stands and what the future as a “Global Britain” would look like. Should be visible. Still, the term always remained a meaningless PR slogan, and you won’t win an election with complicated documents with cryptic titles.

On the other hand, with deals, this is more likely, which is why the new security alliance between Australia, the United States and the Kingdom, known as the Ocus, is being hailed as a success in London. and as a perfect definition of what Johnson envisions in his customers and employees under “Global Britain” – a Great Britain that acts confidently on the world stage and joins forces with other forces in the English-speaking world it happens.

From London’s point of view, the timing was good

In London they also point to favorable times: French President Emmanuel Macron subordinates everything to his intended re-election in the spring, so he is very busy with himself. On the other hand, in Germany, it may take some time to get a new government after the general election, which is why there is a lack of leadership in Europe regardless of the EU.

Johnson’s government sees itself growing a sort of occult, which also comes at the right time for Liz Truss, considered the face of “Global Britain”. On Monday, Truss, who has only been foreign minister for a few days and who has now embarked on a business trip with Johnson, visited the UN General Assembly. She wanted to present “a positive and internationally oriented Global Britain” that “delivers to everyone in the UK,” she said.

However, what to do with it if Johnson’s government delivers is a question of perspective. The deal caused much annoyance in Paris, with France being abandoned by Australia and betrayed by the US and Britain. Security and trade go hand in hand, which is why Australia isn’t buying French submarines for the roughly 85 billion euros originally planned. After the departure of French ambassadors from Washington and Canberra, France canceled the meeting of two defense ministers in London that had been planned for this week. In addition, Paris threatened to suspend trade talks between the EU and Australia for the time being.

This would again be in the spirit of Johnson’s Brexiteers. From his point of view, Aukas has the potential to upset the EU, perhaps even to divide it a bit. And if the French government alone goes to suspend talks with Australia, they can claim that the angry French once again determined the fate of the EU and prevented a trade deal that would benefit the EU.

No wonder, then, that in London it is pointed out with a certain self-righteousness that Great Britain has already achieved what Brussels is still working on: a trade agreement with Australia, even though British economic output Its contribution should be manageable. The fact that France has apparently not withdrawn its ambassador from London and states that the British are only “the fifth wheel on the wagon” makes the whole thing a mixture of defiance and satisfaction in London.

But whatever the glee may be, the danger is that even deteriorating relations between the EU and Great Britain will become a problem for London. France’s interest in somehow accommodating the British in the difficult Brexit dispute over Northern Ireland has fallen further.

Boris Johnson knows that, of course, which is why he emphasized at the start of his flight how important France is to Great Britain as a partner, as is typical of him: “Our love for France Indelible,” Johnson said. Anyone would love to be there when Emmanuel Macron listened to Johnson.

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