UK FM: British role in European security "unconditional"
PARIS -- Britain's contribution to European security is "unconditional", Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told a French newspaper, denying the government had made a veiled threat to reduce cooperation if there was no post-Brexit trade deal.
Prime Minister Theresa May said in a letter to the European Union on Wednesday that "our cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened" if Britain left the bloc without a new deal on trade and other matters.
Asked in an interview with France's Le Figaro whether Britain was trying to use security cooperation as a bargaining chip to secure an EU trade deal, Johnson said: "No, not at all."
"We consider the historic contribution of the UK to the security and stability of Europe as unconditional," he said in the interview published on Saturday.
