The Sunday Express, citing government sources, reported that former US President Barack Obama was supposed to be President Joe Biden’s first candidate for US ambassador to the UK, but that Boris Johnson’s government categorically opposed him.

According to a British newspaper, the Biden administration unofficially investigated London’s reaction if Obama was indeed nominated, but the British prime minister allegedly disagreed. A senior government source told the Sunday Express: “It is absolutely true that the government has secretly opposed Obama’s appointment. It is also true that this is causing delays (in the nomination).”

Although Johnson and Biden emphasized the existence of “special relations” between the two countries on the occasion of the G7 summit in Cornwall in June, the new US president, contrary to expectations, did not nominate a new ambassador to Great Britain, and British media indicate that it is likely that he will not This is happening this year.

The Sunday Express writes that if the information about Obama is correct, this would be the first known case of the British government opposing the United States’ nomination for the post of ambassador. He also recalls that Johnson’s relationship with Obama has been tenuous since the latter spoke out against Brexit in 2016 and warned that if the United Kingdom left the European Union, it would end the waiting list of countries with which the United States would sign a trade agreement, which the “Sunday Express” describes Unprecedented US interference in Britain’s internal affairs.

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The newspaper quoted another government source as saying, “Obama is unacceptable. Just a comment at the end of the line is enough to make it unacceptable.” The Sunday Express added that Johnson later in a newspaper article indicated that the reason for Obama’s reluctance to the United Kingdom may have been that his father is from Kenya, which was a British colony, and this point also did not help in the relationship of politicians. .

A British Foreign Office spokeswoman, referring to this information on Sunday, said that the decision on who would be nominated for the post of US ambassador rests with the US authorities. The media also reports that it is extremely rare for the head of any country to take up the post of ambassador after the end of his term.

From London Bartłomiej Niedziński (PAP)

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