[ad_1]
Boris Johnson’s father Stanley has confirmed that he is applying for a French passport on the eve of the end of the British Brexit transition period.
In an interview with the French radio station RTL, he said: “It is not about becoming French. If I understand correctly, I am French! My mother was born in France, her mother was completely French just like her grandfather.
“For me it is a question of obtaining what I already have and I am very happy about that.”
Johnson, 80, served as an MEP 40 years ago and was one of the first UK officials to work in Brussels after Britain joined the European Union, then the European Economic Community, in 1973. Then worked for the European Commission. .
He campaigned for the UK to stay in the EU in 2016, while his son led the exit movement.
Britain’s transition period will end at 11 p.m. Thursday, after parliament voted on the prime minister’s post-Brexit trade deal on Wednesday. The UK will no longer be affected by the EU freedom of movement rules, which means, among other things, that millions will lose the automatic right to work in the 27 EU member states.
Thousands of Britons have acquired EU citizenship since the Brexit vote. More than 350,000 had applied for citizenship from another EU state as of January this year. The close historical ties between Ireland and the United Kingdom place the country at the top of the EU passport league in the hands of British with dual citizenship.
According to AFP, Johnson said in his interview: “I will always be European, that’s for sure.
“You cannot tell the English ‘you are not European’. Europe is more than the single market, it is more than the European Union.
“That said, having such a link with the EU is important,” he concluded, apparently referring to an EU passport.
His daughter Rachel had already revealed her plans to seek a French passport in a book published in March.
He wrote that his grandmother was born in Versailles and that if his father received French citizenship, she would like to be French too.
