Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson Booed At French Embassy

“It’s not only in London’s interest, it’s in the interest of the European Union as well”.

In April, Johnson suggested that United States President Barack Obama had an “ancestral dislike” of Britain because he is part-Kenyan.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that as a “Leave” campaigner Johnson had “lied a lot” and said his appointment “reveals the British political crisis” following the referendum.

In their first telephone conversation, Kerry offered his congratulations to newly appointed Johnson in the top British diplomatic post. “Now it’s him with his back against the wall to defend his country and to clarify his relationship with Europe”, Ayrault said.

The ministers will on Monday formally discuss the conflicts in Syria and Libya as well as the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, including at a breakfast with visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry.

There is widespread animosity in Europe toward Johnson who recently compared the E.U.’s aims to those of Adolf Hitler.

Germany’s influential Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, however, signaled a willingness to forget past statements by Johnson.

Schaeuble is influential in Germany’s government and in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party.

Lew added said he has been “encouraged that there have been very pragmatic views expressed” in his meetings in Europe.

Outside Downing Street, a group of demonstrators chanted: “What do we want?” Several senior figures in the former government of David Cameron have been fired as May puts her stamp on the government.

“There is a massive difference between leaving the European Union and our relations with Europe, which if anything I think are going to be intensified and built up at an intergovernmental level”, said Johnson, a leader in the Brexit campaign before the 23 June referendum.

Hollande pressed for exit negotiations to begin “as soon as possible”, his office said.

But completely different political tasks now stand at the forefront, he told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Britain now needs to create “a new inter-governmental relationship that is superior to the existing system”, he said.

Britain hasn’t yet formally triggered talks on exiting the European Union and it’s unclear when it will do so.

Johnson’s own influence in the Brexit process may be limited however as she has named leading Conservative eurosceptic David Davis as a special minister for Brexit.

May won the leadership battle and quickly sacked Gove, who is now seen as treacherous by many Conservatives. “Boris Johnson, King of Brexit, has now been rewarded with the post of foreign secretary, having initially stuck his head in the sand after the vote”.

On social media, French writers let rip too, with one tweeting “a clown as the new foreign minister-comedy or Shakespearean tragedy?” while another proposed that Johnson “recruit Mr. Bean as an adviser”. “This is about taking foreign policy responsibility beyond Brexit”, Steinmeier said.

Juergen Hardt said in a statement Thursday that, for example, “free access to the common market means, among other things, accepting other fundamental freedoms such as the freedom of movement” between European countries.

He said in the current climate he needed a “clear, credible and reliable” partner.

Hammond, as the new British treasury chief, tried to sound a reassuring note Thursday, pledging that he would not introduce an emergency national budget – even though there are question marks hanging over the economy after the country’s decision to leave the EU.

Work and pensions minister Stephen Crabb, who had also sought the prime minister’s job, resigned citing family reasons, days after the married politician had hit the front pages for allegedly sending flirtatious WhatsApp messages to a young woman.