Merkel and Johnson will discuss post-Brexit relationship

Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, shares his perspective from Europe:

What are Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson going to talk about when they meet this week?

Well, I guess they need to start discussing a relationship post-Brexit. It was five years ago, and the relationship is still dominated by sort of Brexit-related issues. The uncertainty over the Northern Ireland protocol is a cloud over the relationship, but there are also common issues. Needless to say, the pandemic is still with us.

With Macron & Le Pen doing badly in the regional elections in France, is next year's presidential election wide open?

I would say it's open. I wouldn't say wide open, but there was clearly a sort of renewed strains of the traditional parties shown in the regional elections. The regional elections are regional. What is clear is that Macron has not been able to build a solid party base during these years. But the presidential election is very much about personalities and Macron is still doing fairly well in the opinion polls.