A new European Roman empire: Macron & Johnson's latest absurdities

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According to the Financial Times on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, claiming the idea as his own, brought up an idea which he believes to be Europe's modern take on the Roman Empire: a "European Political Community," which includes Eastern Europe, namely Ukraine. 

The idea of a 'modern' community, which Johnson took from French President Emmanuel Macron, would geographically encompass the UK to the Maghreb region, all the way to east Turkey and Ukraine. 

Addressing journalists on their way to the NATO summit in Madrid, he revealed that he had come up with the idea back when he "first became foreign secretary," revealing that he believed “we should basically be recreating the Mare Nostrum of the Roman Empire." Mare Nostrum is the Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea during the time when the Romans controlled most of Europe, North Africa, modern-day Turkey, and the Caucasus.

Back in the European parliament, Macron proposed, owing the idea to his French predecessor, Francois Mitterrand, a "broad European club" that was brought up in 1989 when the Soviet Union was collapsing.

Johnson described this idea as "worth looking" at as long as it caters to British strategic interests. He said that  “inventing new structures” might not be the best use of resources.

While there have been tensions between the Brits and the French, during the G7 summit, the two agreed to "start over." One UK official called the reconciliation "le bromance."

France and the UK disagree on a number of issues, including disputes over the English Channel, Brexit, and criticism that Macron isn't aggressive enough with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. 

One of the last attempts enacted on European nostalgia to restore a Roman empire ended up in a miserable Nazi defeat in 1945.