Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, accusing him of being a ‘Putin bootlicker’, his ex-boyfriend claims on Thursday. communication director.
At the beginning of March 2022, when tens of thousands of Ukrainians fled their country in the grip of the Russian invasion launched on February 24, the British media and several European countries criticized the small number of refugees hosted by the United Kingdom. “Macron went further by criticizing Boris very directly and his remarks made the front page of the ‘Guardian’, I believe on a Friday”, remembers Guto Harri, former director of communications for the ex-Prime Minister, in a new episode of his “Unprecedented” podcast uploaded Thursday.
“We have to rage against the ‘frogs'”
During a meeting with his advisers, “he launched a virulent attack on Emmanuel Macron, calling him a word beginning with a C (obvious allusion to “asshole”), saying he’s a psycho, he is Putin’s bootlicker,” he says. We “must take off the gloves”, “we must rage against the ‘frogs'” (frogs – pejorative nickname of the French), Boris Johnson would have said, according to this adviser.
An early supporter of Kiev in its conflict with Russia, the United Kingdom and its leaders had already been skeptical of the French president’s attempts to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin not to invade Ukraine. The visit of the French president to Moscow, a few weeks before the start of the conflict, “gave nausea” to Boris Johnson, according to Harri.
“Showing the world that our ”Bromance” is alive”
However, says this adviser, the two leaders were then reconciled. “They had a whiskey together at a G7 summit (…) giving each other ‘my friend’, ‘enchanted Emmanuel’”, and Boris Johnson inviting Macron to London “so that we could show the world that our ”Bromance” is alive”.
A spokesperson for Boris Johnson declined to comment on the remarks that lent him his former adviser, specifying that the former Prime Minister was not involved in this podcast. According to official figures, the UK has issued nearly 230,000 visas to Ukrainians since the start of the war.