UK ultimatums will backfire, Sweden warns ahead of Brexit
European leaders pledge to preserve unity as Le Pen says people no longer want the EU
Taking a hard line in Brexit negotiations will severely hurt the UK. That’s the message from Sweden, one of Britain’s closest allies in the European Union, just days before Prime Minister Theresa May triggers Article 50 and starts negotiations to leave the bloc after more than four decades of an ambivalent relationship.
Ann Linde, Sweden’s EU affairs and trade minister and the woman representing Scandinavia’s biggest economy in Brexit talks, said the UK’s negotiating tactics are damaging its chances of getting a good deal. She also said the EU is showing a surprising degree of unity in its approach. “They have been really tough on the UK side,” Linde said. “That’s a position they have chosen, but it doesn’t make it easier to have constructive discussions when the point is to reach an agreement.”
Her comments came as French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said the EU will die because the people do not want it anymore. The far-right leader told a rally yesterday that the bloc would be replaced by a “Europe of the people.” “The European Union will die because the people do not want it anymore,” Le Pen said to loud applaud. “We will change for another Europe, the European idea harmed by the federalists will re-energise itself, re-invigorate itself in the Europe of the people and of ... the nations.”
Le Pen’s explosive comments came a day after European leaders projected a united front despite concern of failure in the shadow of Brexit.
Proclaiming “Europe is our common future,” 27 leaders of the European Union signed a statement Saturday in Rome declaring their commitment to integrating the Continent even as a series of crises badly weakened the efforts and Britain prepares to leave the bloc.
“Europe as a political entity will either be united, or will not be at all,” EU President Donald Tusk told the leaders in the frescoed hall on Capitol Hill where the original treaty was signed. “Only a united Europe can be a sovereign Europe.”
“It is a very sad moment, I do think that Brexit, the exit of Britain, is a tragedy,” European Commission President JeanClaude Juncker told reporters before the meeting.
Leaders flagged defence as a priority, amid concern that was increased by US President Donald Trump’s criticism of EU military spending.
“We want a more powerful Europe, which means that we will have to cooperate more closely in our defence,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after the summit. Merkel said any post-Brexit budget gap in the EU should be filled jointly. -