Sir, – Mary Morrissey (Letters, August 31st) wonders why Boris Johnson or Simon Coveney only ever seem to visit Germany and France when they want to influence the EU on Brexit issues.
In fairness to Mr Coveney, he has in the past week alone visited Denmark, the Czech Republic and Finland, as well as France, to reinforce Ireland’s concerns on Brexit. It would appear from reports that he was well received and that other small EU countries are continuing to show solidarity with Ireland. With regard to Mr Johnson, it’s no surprise that he has not followed Mr Coveney’s example in engaging directly with other small EU countries. Since the Brexit referendum, the British government has made countless strategic mistakes based on fundamental misunderstandings of how the EU works, despite decades of UK membership.
Certainly Germany and France remain hugely influential member states but the EU is indeed a union of 28 member states, and it pays dividends to engage with capitals beyond Berlin and Paris to protect your country’s interests. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS WHITE,
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
Dublin 1.