Boris Johnson will travel to France to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in the next few weeks, French officials said on Friday, while warning the new British premier against “posturing” and “provocations.” The French leader, who has said he is happy to be considered the “bad guy” in the Brexit negotiations, is set to be a key figure during the tricky and potentially bad-tempered talks in the months ahead.
Macron extended the invitation to Johnson in a call late on Thursday from his official summer vacation residence in the south of France. But in a sign of wariness in France about Johnson’s anti-EU rhetoric, France’s Europe Minister Amelie de Montchalin urged Britain’s new leader to work on creating a working relationship with his partners on the continent.