The Downing Street source puts his faith in threats. Is Downing Street threatening to undermine that multilateral institution too? The defence of Europe against external threats, including Russia, has always been seen as being in the national interest. The UK has never been the easiest member state anyway. Given that it is highly likely that much of this is appreciated in Downing Street, EU sources instead see the text message as yet another play in the blame game so central to Johnson’s hopes of winning a majority in the now inevitable general election.

Source: The Guardian October 08, 2019 09:44 UTC