Tribune. Today we are leaving the European Union. But that does not signify the end of something. It is, on the contrary, a daring new beginning and the beginning of a new chapter. Today we are paving the way for an ambitious, confident and resolutely global United Kingdom.
Because from now on we will be free to set up a new relationship with our European partners, a relationship based on a solid friendship, shared values and common interests. We see these next steps as opening a new page.
By the end of the year, we will conclude the best possible arrangements for a new relationship honoring the popular will expressed in the 2016 referendum, and based on friendly cooperation with other Europeans.
This cooperation is vital for international stability
Because this close cooperation is vital for international stability, as it helps us to face global challenges and move towards our common goals. Most importantly, we will become an independent nation, free to determine its own future and able to control its borders, its laws, its currency and its trade.
Just two weeks ago, I worked with my E3 counterparts (bringing together the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom) to review recent Iranian measures violating certain crucial commitments of the Vienna Agreement. The move was the result of carefully coordinated phone calls and meetings – all elements of close collaboration between close partners.
But our partnership is not only based on rapid decision-making capacity. It is based on a lasting commitment in each aspect of our cooperation. In the framework of cooperation within NATO, British sailors, soldiers and pilots are deployed alongside our allies in the Baltic countries, constituting at sea, on land and in the air a deterrent and reassurance force in the face of risk of Russian aggression.
We can assert ourselves as a liberal nation
And later this year, with Italy as co-organizer, we will meet in Glasgow for COP26, placing European leadership at the forefront in developing decisive global action on climate change. So, alongside our European partners, we will continue to act to consolidate trade, strengthen security and tackle the common challenges we face around the world.
