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Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Tories' spring conference in Blackpool, north-west England
Photo: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sees parallels between the Ukrainians' fight against Russian dominance in their country and Britain's exit from the EU.
"I know that the instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, is always to have the freedom to choose," Johnson said at his Conservative party's spring conference in Blackpool, northwest England.
As an example for the comparison, he cited the narrow vote of the British for leaving the EU in 2016 with 52 percent of the votes.
"When people voted for Brexit in such large numbers, I don't think they did it because they were hostile to foreigners, but because they wanted to be free," said the Prime Minister, adding after a lengthy pause: "... .To do things differently and to be able to decide for yourself in this country«.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was also drawn into questionable comparisons.
In her speech in Blackpool, she mentioned Great Britain's support for British-Iranian dual nationals recently released from Iranian detention in the same breath as British attempts to renegotiate the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol is intended to secure peace in the former civil war province and was negotiated and ratified by Great Britain as part of the Brexit agreement.
In an interview with The Times published on Saturday, Truss again threatened to partially override the protocol.
In this case, a trade war between Great Britain and the EU is feared.
jso/dpa
