Merkel: We have to get Brexit right
German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to work until the “last day” to ensure an orderly Brexit and signalled that responsibility for a successful withdrawal didn’t lie solely with Theresa May.
Merkel’s comments suggest an opening after the British leader made a round of phone calls to other EU heads, including Merkel, after she suffered a landslide parliamentary defeat of her withdrawal deal during the week.
At a regional party event, Merkel framed Brexit as a historic test of the European Union’s ability to withstand crises.
“We also have a responsibility to shape this separation process in a responsible way, so that people don’t look back in 50 years, shaking their heads, and say why weren’t we in a position to make a compromise?” Merkel said yesterday in the Baltic port city of Rostock.
With May due to unveil a fresh Brexit plan tomorrow, EU leaders and diplomats have said they’ll wait to assess her next move.
A disorderly Brexit would be “the worst solution” and Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union wouldn’t prevent Britain staying in the EU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who succeeded Merkel as party chairwoman in December, was quoted by Le Monde.
Merkel said the turmoil showed how difficult the process was: “Let me say, emphatically, I will work until the last day to ensure that we have a settled solution for the UK’s exit.
“The UK is a part of Europe. We’re bound together by a wonderful cooperation on all kinds of domestic security questions. The UK has to be a close partner in the future.”