Yahoo News Top EU official launches extraordinary attack on Boris Johnson
A top EU official has launched an extraordinary attack on the UK’s next prime minister Boris Johnson.
European commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis accused Mr Johnson of lying and killing democracy in an explosive blog post, criticising his ‘cheap promises, simplified visions, blatantly evident incorrect statements’.
He wrote: “Can democracy survive this type of politics? My take is that democracy chooses only those principles that derive from it, defend it and legitimize it.
“The ones that stem from ‘fake’ facts are killing it.”
Mr Andriukaitis further suggested the new Prime Minister is as dishonest as politicians in the USSR when it comes to ‘fact distortion, reality falsification and blunt oblivions of reality.’
Defending his decision to weigh in on UK politics he said: “I care when democracy is taken hostage and used as a pawn in political games for a so called 'different' Europe.
“If that different Europe is just a fig leaf to cover up some national issues, I don't buy it.
“If the different Europe is the one where we sit at the table, discuss and look for the solutions to the challenges we face - I'm in.
The outburst is an ominous start to the relationship between arch Brexiteer Mr Johnson and the European Union.
The 77th Prime Minister has called the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by the EU and Theresa May’s team ‘dead’ and threatened to withhold the £39bn Brexit divorce payment to squeeze a better deal out of Europe.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, has repeatedly said the Withdrawal Agreement is the only deal on the table and cannot be renegotiated.
In a further sign of conflict Mr Barnier said today that Brussels is looking forward to working with the new prime minister on ratifying the existing Withdrawal Agreement.
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament Brexit coordinator, said the EU will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss Mr Johnson’s victory in the Tory leadership contest.
If Mr Johnson fails to secure a new deal or extend the Brexit deadline, the UK will leave the EU without a deal on 31 October.
Mr Johnson will be appointed as prime minister on Wednesday by the Queen after Mrs May formally resigns.
He secured 92,153 votes – 66.4% – to defeat Mr Hunt in the leadership ballot.
Despite the resounding victory, Mr Johnson’s share of the vote was slightly lower than that achieved by David Cameron in the 2005 Conservative leadership election, when he took 67.6%.
