He said Britain would be a staunch supporter of NATO, backing calls by Trump that European member states should pay their way. "At the heart of this institution — NATO, the most durable and successful defense alliance in history — lies the security guarantee contained in the North Atlantic Treaty Article 5, that an attack on any one member shall be considered an attack against them all.
"And in offering that guarantee, president-elect Donald Trump has a point. It cannot be justified that one NATO ally, [the US], accounts for about 70% of the alliance's defense spending while the other 27 countries manage only 30% between them," Johnson said.
Trump has made clear he believes that Europe is not pulling its weight within the alliance and has questioned why the US pays so much into an organization he described in March as "obsolete". He told reporters during his campaign that he rejected the idea that the US should be "the world's policeman".
"I want every NATO member to meet the agreed target of spending 2% of GDP on defense, and 20% of their defense budget on new equipment. Britain already abides by this target and I note that NATO's most exposed members — including Estonia and Poland — do so as well," Johnson said.
We are a global Britain running a global foreign policy. — @BorisJohnson @foreignoffice #CHevents
— Chatham House (@ChathamHouse) December 2, 2016
'Protagonist'
On Brexit, Johnson said that he would see Britain as returning to becoming a global trader: "A nation taking back control of its democratic institutions [is] not a nation that is "turning in on itself, pulling up the drawbridge or slamming the door".
"It is a country that refuses to be defined by this decision, a country galvanized by new possibilities and a country that is politically, economically, morally feted to be more outward looking and more engaged with the world than ever before.
I set out my vision for Global Britain @ChathamHouse this morning. I believe this country is a force for the good: https://t.co/SaDRfgK7wa pic.twitter.com/21XR5eeiss
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 2 December 2016
"When I speak of global Britain and the need for us to commit ourselves to the peace and prosperity of the world, I know there will be some who are wary that this sounds pretentious in a nation that comprises less than one percent of the world's population. I know there will be cynics who say we can't afford it. I say, we can't afford not to."
"Like it not, we are not some bit-part or spear-carrier on the world stage. We are a protagonist, a global Britain running a truly global foreign policy. And my message to your today is that this global approach is in the interests both of Britain and the world," he said.
