Alwaght- Leading European countries have reacted angrily to Boris Johnson’s appointment as Britain’s foreign secretary.
French and German foreign ministers have respectively called him “a liar with his back to the wall” and someone whose behavior has been “outrageous.”
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, who met Johnson when the two men were both mayors, was asked on French radio if he was surprised by Johnson’s appointment. “I don’t know if it surprised me,” he said. “It’s a sign of the British political crisis that has come out of the referendum vote.” Ayrault added that, during the Brexit campaign , Johnson told a lot of lies to the British people adding that, “and now it is him who has his back against the wall.”
Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, echoed the French critique of Johnson, suggesting that his conduct in the run-up to the EU referendum was deceitful and reckless. Speaking in Greifswald, Steinmeier called the new foreign secretary’s behaviour “ungeheuerlich” - egregious or outrageous. Steinmeier added: “To be honest, I find this outrageous. It’s not just bitter for Great Britain. It’s also bitter for the EU.”
European commission vice-president, Frans Timmermans, said Johnson was a passionate anglophile adding that the “hatred and bigotry” unleashed by the leave campaign “took me completely by surprise.”
Generally international reaction to the appointment of Johnson as foreign secretary has been negative.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Times of Israel described Johnson as an "Israel backer", while Daniel Taub, an analyst and former UK ambassador to Tel Aviv, described him as a "very outspoken friend of Israel".
Johnson was the flamboyant figurehead of the victorious campaign to leave the European Union having differed with his conservative party which opposed the exit.
It appears the move to appoint him is a strategic move by the party. It’s a known fact that Prime Minister Theresa May and Johnson have never been close but appointing him in the cabinet might placate the grassroots, as well as the rightwing of the party.
