France praises nationality offer from Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley

The French government has thrown a favorable light on a proposal by the British Prime Minister’s father to assume French nationality, saying it shows how attached the British are to the European Union of which they are no longer part.

Reports that Stanley Johnson, Boris Johnson’s father, is trying to keep one foot in Europe by assuming French citizenship made headlines just as his son led Britain’s separation from the EU on Thursday.

Britain left the vast single market for people, goods and services of the European bloc at 11pm UK time on New Year’s Eve.

Visiting Calais on Friday to inspect how the French port is adjusting after Brexit, French Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune described the citizenship application as emblematic of enduring British sentiment for Europe.

“If Mr. Johnson’s father is entitled to French nationality, wants to remain a European citizen and become a French citizen, we will examine that,” he said.

“To me this is a nod or a sign that many Brits, in different ways, still love Europe.”

“There are many people in the UK for whom this is also a sad day,” added Mr Beaune.

Johnson, 80, is a former member of the European Parliament who backed staying in the EU in Britain’s 2016 membership referendum.

Since then, she has expressed her support for her son when the prime minister pulled the UK out of the bloc.

French nationality would give Major Johnson the automatic rights that other Britons have now lost, including the ability to travel and live freely in all 27 EU countries.

Stanley Johnson told RTL broadcaster Thursday that he was in the process of “regaining” his French identity.

“It is not about becoming French. If I understand well, I am French. My mother was born in France. His mother was completely French, as was his grandfather, ”he said.

“So for me it is a question of recovering what I already have.”

He added: “I will always be European. That is sure.

“You cannot tell the English: ‘You are not European.’ Europe is always more than the common market, more than the European Union ”.