Deal, No Deal, postponement, or something completely different? At the EU foreign Ministers ‘ meeting, the topic of Brexit dominated the agenda. Eleven days before the scheduled withdrawal of Britain, the situation is more unclear.
Austria’s foreign Minister Karin Kneissl begins to laugh spontaneously, when they will be raised on the agenda of today’s meeting. It doesn’t laugh a lot: civil war in Yemen, or the future of relations with China, for example – but then the question is: will Spoken among the colleagues is surely probably just about the Brexit, or? “Yes, it is,” says Kneissl. “This is the ’talk of town’. One has the impression that we are wavering because of an intra-British vote to the next. Now we just wait to see if it ever comes to this, the third ‘meaningful vote’ in the house of Commons.”
there Is still a vote?
A few meters next to Kneissl, the British colleague is talking with British television. Of course, he is asked, how it is actually: Will now be voted in for a third Time on the withdrawal of the contract, has been shattered twice by the deputies in a rage, or is it the Prime Minister?
However, even Jeremy Hunt, the Minister of foreign Affairs by virtue of their office, one of the closest Confidants of Theresa May, has less than 36 hours before the possible vote at a loss.
“We hope that will be voted on, but we must also be sure that we get the necessary majority. Therefore, the conversations go more with the Northern Irish DUP, and critical members of our Conservatives. We do what we can to be the vote of the citizens.”
The British foreign Secretary, Hunt is optimistic that the Plan of the Prime Minister May come up.
“The laws for the No-Deal-Brexit are passed”
It may be the last session on the European level, for the British Minister of foreign Affairs. Because the legal situation is on this day, eleven prior to the Brexit: If not a diplomatic artifice is used, then it was. Then Hunt on the EU level will soon be history, and his country is without any hedging outside the European Union.
One of the oldest in the round, Belgium’s foreign Minister Didier Reynders, smiles, therefore, only in the direction of his British colleagues. The message is clear: “We will of course try to prevent a ‘hard Brexit’, because that would be a lose-lose Situation, a situation with no winners. However, We are prepared. The laws for the case that there is a ‘No Deal’, are adopted.”
Federal foreign Minister Heiko Maas is one of those who want to avoid almost at any price. He tried to build a bridge to the other, asks the British colleagues, almost imploringly, you may finally come up with good arguments, so you need even more time. “What is the reason?”, Maas asks. “How does it work? What is actually the aim of the extension? Before it comes to a ‘hard Brexit’, it is definitely more sensible to go for a lap of honour, to continue with the break-up, which means a ‘hard Brexit’: a lot of disadvantages on both sides.”
foreign Minister Maas (l.) wants to prevent a No-Deal-Brexit.
Brussels resembles an anthill
And so it goes Back and Forth. Both sides sprinkle in a targeted rumors. So is rumored to be Rome’s right-wing populist interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, will prevent by means of an Italian veto a postponement of the discharge date, to do his buddy, the Brexit-in strategists and Ex-UKIP chief Nigel Farage, a Favor.
The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in turn, feels in the meantime, the British Comedy troupe Monty Python, reminds, others fear for the validity of the European elections, should remain the English to for a long time. In other words, on day eleven prior to the planned exit Brussels is still an anthill.
Brexit: guesswork when EU foreign Ministers meet
Malte Pieper, MDR Brussels
18.03.2019 13:16 PM
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