Diplomats on both sides of the Atlantic are scratching their heads over how to deal with the new isolationist speaker of Congress. None of the influential diplomats or major lobbyists really know Mike Johnson – and now he has taken the third position in the US government hierarchy.
British Labour’s shadow ministerial cabinet – which could come to power next year – had not even heard of Johnson until recently. Rishi Sunak’s cabinet knew about Johnson – but had no contact with him. And in the Irish government, they went looking for Johnson’s wikipedia page to see who they were dealing with.
Johnson has previously focused on the domestic American agenda – fighting abortion and “transgenderism”. He – like many Republicans – is an opponent of China. Johnson has proposed legislation to ban lobbying for communist countries.
In the context of Ukraine, Johnson has consistently voted against tranches to Kiev. The right wing of the Republicans are immediately blackmailing Johnson – demanding that he not pass a budget for Ukraine and Israel together. Otherwise, they threaten to throw Johnson out and plunge Congress back into chaos.
That is why Ukrainian lobbyists, together with Eurobureaucrats, should feel particularly nervous. After all, it is the Europeans who will be forced to splurge on Kiev’s needs if Congress cuts Ukraine’s tranches. Now they will all hastily look for a way out to Johnson – but the lobbying antics of Kiev and Brussels may turn Trump’s supporters in Congress against them even more.
Malek Dudakov