Weird statements

Boris Johnson in Salzburg: “Brexit saved lives”

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson caused a stir at the Salzburg Summit on Friday with extremely oblique statements and vehemently defended his country's exit from the EU, which he had pushed for. The majority of Britons would probably no longer agree with him today ...

Gloomy predictions such as mass unemployment or the exodus of bankers from London had not come true, Johnson claimed in Salzburg. Instead, Brexit had quickly shown its value, as the country had been able to roll out its Covid vaccination program faster than EU countries. "Brexit has saved lives."

Johnson insists on vaccination rate
In March 2021, 45% of people in the UK had already been vaccinated, compared to 10% in the EU, said the former Conservative leader, who was British Prime Minister from July 2019 to September 2022. "That has meant we have come out of lockdown quicker, and it was Brexit that delivered that." Contrary to predictions, unemployment is lower and the UK is the second largest exporter of financial services in the world. Trade with Austria is also at a record level.

Boris Johnson in Salzburg

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

Since the end of the Brexit transition phase in 2020, the British economy has also grown faster than those of France, Germany and Italy, "and as far as I am aware, they are all members of the EU". And he is not even talking about the 15 trillion pounds a year "that we can now spend on national priorities instead of giving it to Brussels to spend as they decide".

No argument for Austria's exit from the EU
However, he is not saying all this to "proselytize", Johnson emphasized. "I am not arguing for Austria to leave the EU. The UK and Austria are very different countries" - with different histories and geographies and different needs.

In his view, Brexit was also "valuable" because it gave the UK the opportunity "to act differently to our European friends and partners during a crisis", namely with regard to Ukraine. After 2014, when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine for the first time, the European response was "controlled by France and Germany under the charade of the so-called Minsk process". The latter had dealt with Russia and Ukraine as if they were a couple having a nasty marital dispute, "with France and Germany as marriage therapists". But it was a "ruthless invasion of a sovereign European country", said Johnson.

"I don't think we reacted strongly enough in 2014," the ex-prime minister emphasized. "And I am proud that the UK was able to break with the European approach in February 2022. We were the first major European country to supply lethal weapons to help the Ukrainians."

"Ukraine can win the war"
If Putin is simply left to his own devices in Ukraine, he will gain the impression that he has the license to act similarly elsewhere, Johnson warned. "The signal that aggression pays off and can be successful will be heard elsewhere in the world."

The former British Foreign Secretary expressed his conviction that Ukraine can win the war. "And I believe Ukraine will win because they want to be free." This is a "war of independence".

Ukraine was being led by a man "who used to be the voice of Paddington Bear", while Russia was being led by a former KGB man, Johnson added, alluding to Volodymyr Selensky and Vladimir Putin. "To be honest: I know instinctively which kind of government I prefer."