European leaders are planning to ask Britain to head up a new security organisation to counter future geopolitical challenges, in a move to put post-Brexit tensions behind them.
Proposals for a “European Security Council” are being drawn up by Germany, the Netherlands and Poland in order to bring “Britain back into the fold” of major foreign policy discussions outside the confines of the European Union.
The influential EU capitals believe it is now time to end years of bitterness after Brexit and forge new ties based on security and global co-operation, all to ensure Europe is better positioned to tackle world crises, in areas such as the Ukraine crisis and future pandemics.
A group of countries are already urging Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, to personally reach out to Boris Johnson to “bring Britain back into the fold”. Berlin is considered to have enough political heft to ensure the proposals, which are still in their early stages, have maximum impact.
“Continental leaders need to say we’re sitting down, and it would be great if you sat down with us,” a senior European diplomat told the Telegraph.
Britain’s handling of the Ukraine crisis, especially the willingness of Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, to work with EU allies, has reinforced European calls to improve ties with the UK, the source added.
