LONDON (Sputnik) – The former mayor of London, Johnson was one of the leaders of the anti-EU team whose campaign secured 52 percent support in the June 23 so-called Brexit referendum, triggering London's long divorce from Brussels. Theresa May, the United Kingdom’s new prime minister, appointed Johnson to replace Philip Hammond, whom she placed in charge of the financial ministry.
"On Europe, clearly, we have to give effect to the will of the people in the referendum, but that does not mean in any sense leaving Europe," Johnson said in a televised interview after his first meeting with the Foreign Office staff in his new capacity.
"There’s a massive difference between leaving the EU and our relations with Europe, which if anything I think are going to be intensified and built up at an inter-governmental level," Johnson stressed.
