Romanians living in the UK “should not be worried” about their situation after Brexit because they are “extremely valuable members of our society,” UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a interview with Agerpres.

Johnson made a short visit to Bucharest on September 25 to meet with the Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu. The visit was meant to “show how the UK intends to deepen the bilateral relationship it has with its friends across Europe, notwithstanding our departure from the EU.”

“I don’t think they should be worried at all. They shouldn’t worry because they are extremely valuable members of our society. We love them. They make an enormous contribution to the economy of the United Kingdom, to the British culture,” Johnson told Agerpres, when asked about how worried Romanians living in the UK should be after Brexit.

“I was the mayor of London. When you walk through London, you see many Romanian stores, Romanians working in all areas. We think there are a half of million Romanians in the United Kingdom. We would be crazy to let them go back to Romania. We want to keep them, we want to make sure they feel safe and their rights are protected,” Johnson said.

He reiterated the message in a video he posted on his Facebook page at the end of the visit.

The UK Foreign Secretary also argued that the United Kingdom will not close after Brexit for “people of talent, ambition and determination,” but the country will be the one controlling its immigration system and not Brussels.

editor@romania-insider.com