UK and the EU set to remain best of enemies as 2022 dawns | Brexit
UK and the EU set to remain best of enemies as 2022 dawns
Daniel Boffey Brussels Bureau Chief
When Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, gave her lengthy “state of the union” speech last September, there were mentions aplenty of the EU’s vital relationships with Turkey, the western Balkans and Africa.
The continent’s security and economic prosperity depended on nurturing and deepening ties with its neighbourhood, explained Von der Leyen, a former student at the London School of Economics.
Britain did not register in the hour-long speech. Not a word was said of the UK, the recently exited EU member state and the sixth-largest world economy. Now, read back Liz Truss’s, admittedly short, back catalogue of speeches as foreign secretary. A visitor from Mars might assume that the UK is an Indo-Pacific power. Europe barely gets a mention and if it does it is described in terms of being historical baggage.
The year…
