Britons to Brussels: Mutual Relations can be Poisoned for Years. British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt is driving the Brexit negotiations with Europe at the peak. If Brussels makes no concessions, “the mutual relations will be poisoned for years,” he said Friday.
The British Brexit minister Stephen Barclay and legal advisor Geoffrey Cox dropped back to Brussels early this week for talks about the Brexit. The Irish backstop – the emergency solution to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland – is central to this.
To get her divorce agreement still in extremism through the House of Commons, Prime Minister Theresa May needs “legal guarantees” from Europe, including an end date for that backstop. But Europe does not want to know about that so that the negotiations are in a new impasse.
Talks will normally continue this weekend, but foreign minister Jeremy Hunt is already warning the EU. Relations between Britain and Europe will be “poisoned for years” if Brussels makes no concessions, he declared Friday morning to the British public broadcaster BBC. “This is a moment of change in the relationship between the UK and the EU. History will condemn both sides if we do this wrong. “
So the European Union will have to be more flexible, says Hunt. “We want to stay friends with the EU. This requires Europe to be flexible and understands that we now have an obvious question. We do not ask unreasonable things.
“The British minister maintains that it is possible to get guarantees in Brussels before the vote in next week’s parliament. “There has been progressing in the past few days. There is still some work to be done, but it is certainly possible.”
For the time being, Barclay and Cox will not be relegated to Brussels on Friday, although they will remain ‘standby’ if a breakthrough does occur. According to the BBC, the ambassadors of the 27 other member states are expected on Friday at 3 pm at Schumanplein for a Brexit meeting.
Prime Minister Theresa May gives a speech at a time in a company in the coastal town of Grimsby. According to the British media, she will call on the European Union to “make a choice”.
“It is in the European interest that the United Kingdom starts an agreement.” She would come to Brussels on Sunday or Monday morning for a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
For the time being, the Brexit date is still 29 March. But if London and Brussels find no compromise for next week, the postponement beckons.