[ad_1]
Johnson is a man for the big stage
© APA (AFP)
At the meeting between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, an expert expects a furious end to the Brexit talks. “It cannot be ruled out that it ends with a bang,” said journalist and historian Helene von Bismarck. “The idea for the last minute reunion, the drama, was always planned by Johnson.” Von der Leyen and Johnson want to meet for dinner on Wednesday.
The personal conversation after years of negotiations and just a good three weeks before the end of the Brexit transition period was not surprising. “Johnson is a man for the big stage.”
Brexit negotiators have been negotiating for months. Even two long phone calls between von der Leyen and Johnson did not pay much. They still see “significant differences” in three areas: fishing, fair competition and the framework for enforcing the agreements. At the end of the year the transitional phase of Brexit will come to an end, in which, despite the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU, almost everything has remained the same for Great Britain.
The fact that his meeting with von der Leyen took place shortly before the last EU summit of the year was to Johnson’s liking, said the expert, who was awarded a Fellow by the British Royal Historical Society. “Johnson is a massive disruptor for EU leaders,” he said. Brexit will not necessarily be the focus of the two-day meeting on Thursday and Friday, but with his trip to Brussels, Johnson ensures that heads of state and government will have to deal with it.
But von Bismarck does not believe that the visit to von der Leyen is just a show. “Johnson would have agreed to a no-deal Brexit, but it was not his goal,” he said. In direct conversation, the expert sees even small advantages for Johnson. “He can make a political decision for or against an agreement, von der Leyen is subject to his mandate.”
[ad_2]
