‘We have to find a solution – not just for Ireland but for all of us’
THE political environment in the UK is “not easy” – “we all know that”, said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, understating the drama unfolding in Britain throughout the day.
“[It’s] not easy; but in the last days a big step forward was made by Britain,” he said. “Of course it will be a lot of hard work; but we should do our best to keep the timeline and finish the negotiations in October.”
Mr Kurz urged UK Prime Minister Theresa May to press on with her Brexit offering announced just days earlier. The chancellor was on a tour of the invisible line between Northern Ireland and the Irish State – something that is fast becoming an obligatory trip for visiting politicians and other foreign dignitaries.
Mr Kurz said that although Brexit was not formally listed as one of the priorities for the Austrian government during its presidency of the EU, it was indeed his “job” to help forge a solution. Key to this was ensuring political stability on the island of Ireland is preserved.
“We now have to work out to find a way to organise Brexit in a way so that there are no negative outcomes for Ireland,” he insisted.
Standing on the Ravensdale crossing in Co Louth, he added: “The only way we can see the Border is the difference between the yellow and the white colour; but 20 years ago in this conflict people died.”
He pointed to the faint differences on the road, at the top of the yellow line lies the dishevelled, windowless remains of a disused border post. Its shell now conspicuously covered with overgrown ivy and weeds, illustrating the years that have passed since it served as a barrier between the two jurisdictions.
‘We have to find a solution; not only for Ireland but also in the interests of the UK, and the interests of all of us – the 27 member states of the European Union,” said Mr Kurz. Mr Kurz spent almost two days here as part of Austria’s six-month presidency.
He has an affinity with Ireland given he learned English in Bray and is also particularly close with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with whom he joined for a State dinner on Sunday night.
At 31 to Mr Varadkar’s 38 years, the two are the youngest leaders in Europe and share a similar political outlook. Their parties, the Austrian People’s Party and Fine Gael, are both members of the centre-right, conservative, European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament.
“We are all not happy that the British people decided in the way they decided but we all have to respect it and now I think we al have to try to find agreement; it will be difficult,” he said, echoing the resignation among western and central European countries that see Brexit as a terrible waste of time.
European Council President Donald Tusk went one further in Brussels, saying: “The mess caused by Brexit is the biggest problem in the history of the EU-UK relations and it is still very far from being solved.”
Amid the disarray and chaos in London, Mr Kurz called for continued solidarity: “I was not always sure that it would be possible to keep the unity of the 27, but it works. We see it as our job during the presidency to support Michel Barnier to try to keep the unity because this is the most important point.”