European press sees growing Johnson-Trump bond

Signs of a growing rapport between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump preoccupy the European press and news sites, covering the G7 summit in Biarritz.

The two leaders' distinctive blond haircuts are seen as symbolic of deeper similarities.

"It is as if they were looking in a mirror," popular Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws says, noting how well the pair were getting on at this year's event.

"According to the blond leader of the US, the equally blond Johnson is 'the right man to carry out Brexit and deliver the UK from the shackles of the EU'," it says.

Media in France highlight the warmth between the two, but some papers consider that the economic relationship is "far from idyllic".

The centre-right daily Le Figaro writes that Mr Johnson was not confident about the possibility of reaching a trade deal with the US within a year "due to the complexity of the subject".

UK-US 'affinity'

Elsewhere, the apparent bonding between the two men is viewed with some apprehension.

"The biggest threat to Western cohesion this weekend has blond hair and is not afraid to provoke. Trump does not like multilateralism, Johnson says he is not afraid of a hard Brexit," Dutch centre-left daily De Volkskrant warns.

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The two leaders' mutual "affinity" and "air of complicity" elicits an equally strong reaction in Italy and Spain.  

"For the host, Macron, the coupling of BoJo with Donald may prove explosive," the liberal Italian daily La Repubblica says. "Extravagant haircuts aside, both are convinced anti-Europeans and both are prone to bullying in diplomatic talks."

Spanish centre-right daily ABC called Mr Trump's "enthusiastic support" for a hard Brexit "a torpedo directed against the waterline of the European allies, supporting a historic and predictably catastrophic rupture for all parties."

Hinting at Mr Johnson's isolation, the popular Dutch centre-right daily De Telegraaf sarcastically remarks: "It is a good thing for Johnson to have at least one good friend at the G7 summit."

'Brexit standstill'

German papers cast doubt on Mr Johnson's chances of renegotiating the Brexit deal. They warn that despite his upbeat tone the British PM has failed to come up with any proposals to solve the deadlock.

"The British prime minister sees 'realistic opportunities' for a new Brexit deal with the EU. However, he does not say how it will be achieved," writes Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Johnson has no new proposals on Brexit, argues Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"Brexit negotiations must be Johnson's clear priority," suggests Die Welt, because economically and politically "London is fundamentally closer to Europeans than to Trump".

'Mr No Deal'

Other commentators conclude that Mr Johnson has run out of time to negotiate, and suggest he may have moved on to a different agenda.

"While the prospect of a no-deal Brexit takes root in British public opinion - the Boris Johnson government is doing everything for that, despite the denials he repeated to [EU Council chief] Donald Tusk at Biarritz this Sunday - the question that preoccupies commentaries across the Channel is when a snap election will take place," the Belgian liberal daily Le Soir says. 

An editorial in the Belgian centre-right daily De Standaard highlights the tension between Mr Johnson and the EU's Donald Tusk, just over two months away from a possible UK no-deal exit. "Johnson used Biarritz to boost his profile on the issue. He played a blame game with Donald Tusk about who will go down in history as 'Mr No Deal'."

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