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EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier compares British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's approach to a "bulldozer"
Photo: OLIVIER HOSLET / POOL / EPA
Michel Barnier negotiated Brexit for the EU with Great Britain for four years, and the island state's exit has now been sealed.
For the top French diplomat, the deliberations were sometimes full of privation.
In his book "The Great Illusion - Secret Diary of Brexit", which will appear in French this Thursday, Barnier recalls, among other things, the Christmas days last year. Days of trembling had preceded Christmas Eve, when the agreement was finally tied. "So I'm alone this Christmas," Barnier now writes. It was too late to return to his family in France. For the 70-year-old, the agreement was a relief: "On this evening, all tension is gone at one stroke."
Barnier also describes not completely impartially how unprepared British politicians acted after the Brexit referendum.
He remembers, for example, the negotiations with the British ex-Prime Minister Theresa May, who reached an agreement with the EU, but then failed to find a majority in London for her exit agreement.
And Boris Johnson, who gambled even higher, spoke of the "no deal" and who in the end managed to reach an agreement.
According to the news agency dpa, however, there are hardly any real secrets or revelations in the more than 500 pages.
May is described by Barnier as an honest and strong politician who was under enormous domestic political pressure.
Barnier on Brexit hardliner Farage: "sweet and warm"
According to Barnier, however, the first Brexit minister, David Davies, is said to have barely participated in the matter, to have thrown sand in the gears during the negotiations and to have distanced himself after difficult compromises in London.
Barnier calls Brexit pioneer Nigel Farage "sweet and warm" in personal dealings, but politically irresponsible.
Barnier certifies that the current Prime Minister Boris Johnson is proceeding “like a bulldozer” and at the same time states that he has “something authentic and malicious in his look and facial expression.
All in all quite likeable. ”On the EU side, he describes the regiment of the Secretary General of the EU Commission, Martin Selmayr, as“ brutal ”.
Selmayr is said to have repeatedly tried to intervene in the Brexit talks.
Barnier may want to enter the French presidential race
Otherwise Barnier is diplomatic.
Meanwhile, the former French foreign minister apparently has political ambitions in his home country: In several interviews, according to the AP news agency, Barnier recently indicated that he might want to run against incumbent Emmanuel Macron and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen for the presidential election next year.
He also closes his book with a thought that can be understood as a lesson from the Brexit drama: "We have to listen to our country, understand where it comes from and find an answer to its difficulties."
fek / dpa / AP
