With his victory in the 2022 French Presidential Elections, France extended Emmanuel Marcon’s term by five more years.
Global leaders poured congratulations into the Macron’s inbox when he was re-elected, and one of the first to write was none other than British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Prime Minister was quick to stress common ground, telling reporters that he and “Emmanuel” had been able to “work closely together on Ukraine over the last few weeks and months.”
In 2020, Macron has already stated that Brexit will not be a stroll in the park for the United Kingdom.
He has previously labelled the referendum decision as a “crime” for which the United Kingdom should be punished with a “complete departure,” and claimed that Boris Johnson was prone to making showy speeches but lacked strategic vision.
According to UK government sources, Britain’s ties with France are likely to deteriorate further over unlawful Channel crossings in the near future, as the French president exploits the issue as a “Brexit punishment strategy.”
While France blames the UK for the “pull factor” of easily available black market jobs, Britain suspects Paris is not doing enough to stop channel crossings.
When asked if Macron will try to mend fences with Johnson, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire responded that the administration’s primary focus “will not be the relationship between the U.K. and France,” but “to strengthen French unity in order to address all of the problems raised during this election.”
The director of the Centre for European Reform think tank, Charles Grant, projected that the Franco-British relationship would not be reset until Johnson stepped down as prime minister, and warned that hatred for the U.K.
“The truth is that Macron doesn’t like Boris Johnson at all,” Grant said. “It is not just electoral politics — he really is fed up with Johnson. [The French] think Johnson is not an honest or a serious person they can deal with. That’s going to continue.”
Meanwhile, arch-europhile Lord Adonis tweeted: “Europe this morning is far stronger and more European, thanks to Macron’s decisive re-election, while Brexit Britain is ever more isolated and impotent on the fringes.”