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Boris Johnson: UK is going to remain committed to the defence and security of Europe and Romania
The United Kingdom is going to remain committed to the defence and security of Europe and Romania after Brexit, and London and Bucharest will be able to do more bilaterally after the UK leaves the EU, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson said in an exclusive interview to Agerpres, while on a short visit to Bucharest.
Boris Johnson also said that the Romanians in the UK shouldn't worry about their situation after Brexit, as "they are hugely valued members of our society" and "we would be crazy to let them go back to Romania, adding that even after leaving the EU, the UK will remain open to "people of talent, ambition, drive," however being in charge of its own emigration system.
He also voiced himself positive that the UK will have a great future after Brexit, but that the rest of the European Union will also have a great future, because it's not zero-sum, and London wants a strong European Union, supported by a strong UK.
Boris Johnson on Monday had a meeting with the head of Romanian diplomacy, Teodor Melescanu, in the context of a mini-tour he is making these days in Prague, Bucharest and Bratislava, after the Friday speech delivered by British Prime Minister Theresa May in Florence about Brexit.
AGERPRES: How worried should be the Romanians living and working in the UK about their situation after Brexit?
Boris Johnson: I don't think they should be worried at all. They shouldn't worry, cause they are hugely valued members of our society, we love them. They make a massive contribution to the UK, to the UK economy, to the British culture. I used to be Mayor of London. You walk around London, there's lots of Romanian shops, Romanian people doing all sorts of things that... in every job in society. I think, we think there could be as many as half million, five hundred thousand Romanians in the UK. So, we would be crazy to let them go back to Romania. We want to keep them... we want to ensure they feel secure and their rights protected.
I haven't been to Romania for years and years, but I'm so pleased to be here. I'm here because we wanted to come straight from the Prime Minister's [Theresa May] Florence speech to explain what she wants to do. And after Brexit we want to protect the rights of the Romanians in the UK, to secure those rights, and to make sure that they are guaranteed by the UK courts, but those courts will also be able to have regard to the jurisprudence, to the law of the European Court of Justice. So our objective is to make sure that Romanian citizens in the UK feel secure.
AGERPRES: How difficult will it be for Romanians to come to Britain after Brexit?
Boris Johnson: I used to be in charge of the most diversity on Earth. I think we had 300 languages spoken on the streets of London, including Romanian, obviously. And that was a massive economic advantage, and it led to innovation, dynamic start-up industries all over the place, in tech, or media, fashion, you name it. And that's what the UK economy is all about. So we're not gonna close. If people of talent, ambition, drive want to come, we will continue to be open. But we will have a system where we control it, not Brussels. That's the difference, so we will be in charge of our emigration system.
AGERPRES: Why did you say that the relation between Romania and Great Britain will be even stronger?
Boris Johnson: It will, I think it will. Last night, I, we had dinner with my friend Teodor, the Romanian Foreign Minister, and it was a very good dinner. We had Romanian wine that was made by an English guy called Halewood. And we had all sorts of mixtures of Romanian and British food. We decided that we wanted to intensify our relations, and that, after Brexit, we could do more bilaterally and we could have a strategic partnership between the UK and Romania. We think there's more that we can do to cooperate on defence and security. And the Prime Minister said in Florence that our commitment to the defence and the security of Europe is unconditional.
For me, this is an incredible thing to come to Romania. I first came to Romania in 1988, when Nicolae Ceausescu was running the show, and it was very different and it was pretty scary. And there was the Securitate, and there was communism. And the transformation in this country is wonderful to behold. And that was made possible, that transformation was made possible by the strength and resolve people like Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, who stood up to the Soviet Union, and we had the end of communism. And I can assure you that the United Kingdom is going to remain committed to the defence and security of Europe and Romania. And I mean that very sincerely. This is not a bargaining chip in the negotiations about Brexit. This is not something we put on the table because we want a better economic deal, we do this anyway.
AGERPRES: How do you see the current situation of the negotiations between Brussels and Great Britain? It seems they are a bit delayed.
Boris Johnson: The third point the Prime Minister made in her speech was that we're putting some money on the table, which is also important. And we're saying that we will continue to honour our commitments under the medium-term natural framework, and during the transition period, we said there would be a transition period till 2021, we will also be paying. So we hope that now that Britain has said these things about citizenship, about money and the transition period and about our commitment to defence, that our friends in Romania, in Bucharest, will say 'hey, look, the Brits are being pretty positive here, now's the time for us all, as Europeans, to move this conversation forwards'. Because in Brussels they've divided the negotiations into two parts, into, first of all, discussions on citizenship and money and Northern Ireland and so on, and then into the future. We think it's time to talk about the future. It's time to float this ship down the slipway and get it on to the open seas and get moving. And also I hope the conversation can begin.
AGERPRES: Do you still think that Great Britain will be even stronger outside the EU?
Boris Johnson: I think we'll all have a great future, but I think that the rest of the EU will also have a great future. And it's not zero-sum. It's not zero-sum, it can be win-win. Some people are gloomy about it, I don't think there's any need to be gloomy. We can have a strong EU, supported by a strong UK. That's what we want.
AGERPRES: Do you have any personal regrets of any sort about Great Britain leaving the EU?
Boris Johnson: I think the only thing I would say is that people always make a confusion between the institutions of the EU and our great European culture and civilization, which is our common heritage and possession. And they confuse the Brussels system that has grown up over the last 40-50 years with Europe. We're not leaving Europe. It's not physically possible. We are quintessentially a European culture, the Brits, we are going to be part of Europe forever. So, if there's one thing I regret, it's people's tendency to confuse the Commission, the European Council, the Court of Justice, blah, blah, blah... with Europe. That's not Europe, it's part of... it's a system of government, but it's a different thing. So we are wholly committed to European civilisation, to European cooperation, all those things, but just in a different way. That's the crucial message: we may be leaving the EU, but we're not leaving Europe.
AGERPRES: Do you think that now the British citizens would vote the same if they had the chance?
Boris Johnson: I don't know, but I'd rather think so. I think so, yes. I think overwhelmingly people in my country just want to get on and do it. They've, you know, they've had enough. That's why we're hopeful that our friends in Brussels will get the real negotiations going, let's get started.