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Alberto Nardelli
@AlbertoNardelli
, 5 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
NEW: I have spent a bit of time working to answer a simple, but important, question: was Boris Johnson a good foreign secretary?

I have spoken to senior US, European and UK diplomats & officials who all worked and dealt with Johnson directly buzzfeed.com/albertonardell…
The diplomats and officials paint a picture of a foreign secretary who wasn't just funny or prone to innocent gaffes — but was at times "woefully unprepared" for one of the top jobs in British politics
This tale begins with a “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” Trump campaign cap, and a dinner in Mayfair, London, between Johnson and US secretary of state John Kerry. It stretches from bathrooms in Paris to high-level meetings about the war in Yemen buzzfeed.com/albertonardell…
Contacted by BuzzFeed News, Johnson did not challenge any of the details in this story.

A friend of Johnson said:
Full story: Boris Johnson Is Favourite To Become The UK’s Next Prime Minister. This Is What The World Thought Of Him As Foreign Secretary.

buzzfeed.com/albertonardell…
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More from @AlbertoNardelli see all

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Alberto Nardelli
@AlbertoNardelli
Some thoughts on EU top jobs:

1) Talk of "Franco-German stitch up" is always lazy & misunderstands compromise involving 27 countries. Any deal needs French & German agreement. But a FR-DE agreement alone is never enough. Opposition to Timmermans was a lot more than V4 + Italy
2) "Merkel plan falls apart" takes more often than not tend to miss what the actual plan is, and, above all, the Chancellor's ability to find compromise.

Pro tip: Merkel will almost always have a plan B, a plan C, a plan D, a plan Z.
3) On a somewhat related note, criticism of Lagarde's CV is amusing. The good old "she lacks experience" take. She's the MD of the frigging IMF.
Read 8 tweets
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Alberto Nardelli
@AlbertoNardelli
Thought on Tory leadership pitches so far: all the ideas and views on the border in Ireland - from time-limits and “Merkel will help us” to mini-deals and bilateral arrangements - have all been tried before. Unclear what the candidates think will change under their leadership
On no-deal, putting aside parliamentary arithmetic, were WTO to become govt policy for the end status, you still need the WA for transition and if UK ever wanted to hold trade talks with the EU it’d need to agree similar terms too - as reported months ago buzzfeed.com/albertonardell…
tl;dr everyone is dancing like it’s 2016, as if the past three years didn’t happen and seemingly ignoring that October isn’t that far away.
Read 3 tweets
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Alberto Nardelli
@AlbertoNardelli
NEW: The EU's embassy in Moscow was hacked. The attack, an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), began in February 2017 but was only discovered this April, according to a document seen by BuzzFeed News buzzfeednews.com/article/albert…
Analysis found that information was stolen during what is described as a "sophisticated cyber espionage event".

But it is not known how much and exactly what information was taken during the hack.
The EEAS, the EU's foreign policy service, kept the attack secret.

It is believed that Russian groups are behind the hack, a source told BuzzFeed News.
Read 6 tweets

Related threads

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Karol Cummins
@karolcummins
‼️Boris Johnson is Britain's Donald Trump

– Complete with Breitbart's Bannon and Russia Cover-Up

BORIS JOHNSON
MAIN MEGA THREAD

#Brexit #VoteLeave #BorisJohnson

H/T @paulhanley12
bylinetimes.com/2019/06/12/bor…
Boris Johnson is/was advised by Steve BANNON – Trump’s campaign manager & VP of the notorious, now-shuttered electioneering firm Cambridge Analytica, which he co-founded in 2014 w/ hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, who also backed the Breitbart sites.
bylinetimes.com/2019/06/12/bor…
📌Johnson and Bannon became friends when Johnson was still Foreign Secretary and Bannon was still in the White House in early 2017.

📌They have been in contact ever since and the fruits of this friendship have been evident for some time

bylinetimes.com/2019/06/12/bor…
Read 93 tweets
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Stuart Millar
@stuartmillar159
Boris Johnson Is Favourite To Become The UK’s Next Prime Minister. This Is What The World Thought Of Him As Foreign Secretary.

Fantastic deep dive from @albertonardelli on Johnson’s performance in the only senior ministerial job he’s held

buzzfeed.com/albertonardell…
@BuzzFeedNews interviewed seven senior US, European and UK diplomats and officials from the highest levels of government with direct experience of Johnson.

Their views:”woefully unprepared”, “form over substance”, “liked but not respected”

buzzfeed.com/albertonardell…
A UK diplomat said they’d felt embarrassed about representing the UK for the first time in their career after a trip with Johnson to South East Asia because of his lack of basic knowledge on the issues, and his lack of sensitivity towards local cultures

buzzfeed.com/albertonardell…
Read 7 tweets
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Sunder Katwala
@sundersays
Boris Johnson on Brexit
* A key question is what 52% voted for on 23rd June 2016
* an essential source: Boris Johnson's 26th June 2016 column. First post-referendum account by Johnson (or any senior Vote Leave voice) of what he believed *in June 2016*
telegraph.co.uk/politics/2016/…
Others can disagree with Boris Johnson's 26.6.2016 account of what 52% voted for. Obvs 17.4m people had range of views

Nobody can disagree with his account *and* assert a broad consensus on referendum day 2016 across 52% behind any alternative account.
Boris 26.6.2016
* 'Intense and intensifying European cooperation
* Brits keep rights to live + work in EU
* UK-EU free trade & access to single market

"The *only* change – it will not come in any great rush – is that the UK will extricate itself from the EU’s opaque legislation"
Read 24 tweets
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Cyrus Toulabi
@CyrusToulabi
#NEW: Rick Gates told Mueller that he and Manafort shared Trump Campaign Polling Data in 2016 w/ Konstantin Kilimnik, who has ties to Russian Intelligence.

In new unsealed court docs, it was revealed that Gates was at least one source for the revelation.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
#BREAKING: In new court filing, it was revealed that Konstantin Kilimnik...WAS IN DC FOR THE INAUGURATION.

The Manafort and Gates associate, with ties to Russian Intelligence, met with Manafort about the "Russia-Ukraine peace plan."

#REDFLAG: In court transcripts, Andrew Weissman, senior Mueller prosecutor, suggested Konstantin Kilimnik's relationship w/ Manafort & Gates...TIES DIRECTLY TO #CONSPIRACY/COLLUSION.

“This goes...very much to the heart of what the [SCO] is investigating.”
Read 5 tweets
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Steve Herman
@W7VOA
#UK Foreign Secretary @BorisJohnson has resigned, according to @10DowningStreet.
"His replacement will be announced shortly," @10DowningStreet spokesman says.
More on the @BorisJohnson resignation:
Read 15 tweets
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G. Elliott Morris📈🤷‍♂️
@gelliottmorris
#New PA cong. map increases D chance of winning the House majority by 4%. They only need a 6.8% generic ballot margin now (down from 7.7) to be favored.

Diff. will be closer to 10% in Nov when uncertainty from polls is ⬇️. Redraw is a very big deal.

One major reason the new PA map is such a big gain for Democrats is that it solidifies, not just tips, PA districts in Philly burbs. Also creates one additional vulnerable R district. (Easily seen in this map made by @JMilesColeman)
My forecasting model will have new PA map in the near future. This is not just a simple switch; it’s a coding redesign, restructuring of input, & drawing new geographic files. Takes a while (for me, a student).

In the meantime, just add 3-4% to the model: bit.ly/2018_house
Read 4 tweets

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