Boris Johnson’s father says he will seek French citizenship, hours before Brexit

Johnson, a former member of the European Parliament, told French radio station RTL that he “will always be European” in an interview broadcast on Thursday.

“It’s not a matter of becoming French. If I understand correctly, I’m French,” he told RTL in French, emphasizing the family’s ties to the country.

“My mother was born in France, her mother was completely French, just like her grandfather. So for me it’s a matter of regaining what I already have,” he said of the decision to become a French citizen. . “That’s why I’m very happy.”

Britain will officially leave the EU’s internal market and customs union when the transition period ends on New Year’s Eve at 23:00 GMT (18:00 ET).

The post-Brexit trade agreement between the EU and the UK comes into force at that time after the two parties agreed at the last minute. But most Britons will start 2021 by losing their ability to work freely and travel around the bloc of 27 countries.

Stanley Johnson insisted that Brexit would not be the end of the European identity for him or the English people. “I will always be a European, that’s for sure. One can not say to the English people, ‘You’re not European,'” Johnson told RTL.

“Europe is always more than the common market, it is more than the European Union,” he added. “But that said, yes, it is important to have such a link with the European Union.”

The father of the prime minister has regularly found himself in the headlines since his son began his term. In July, he was criticized for traveling to Greece while the UK was in lockdown. And last December – on the night his son won a major election – Stanley Johnson is accused of making an Islamophobic remark on television.