May gives Europe offer of friendship
THERESA May held informal talks in Malta on Brexit with key EU figures including Angela Merkel and Jean Claude Juncker yesterday.
The Prime Minister made it clear that Britain wants to remain friends with the EU after leaving by agreeing to offer cash and assistance to persuade Asian and Latin American countries to take refugees who have landed in Europe.
But with EU leaders wanting a united hard response to US President Donald Trump, Mrs May had to defend her position of seeking to build a closer relationship with America.
Mrs May used the opportunity of a walking tour of Malta’s capital Valletta to talk with some of the central players in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.
She took turns speaking to German Chancellor Mrs Merkel, Commission President Mr Juncker and European Council Chief Donald Tusk.
Mrs May’s hopes for an early deal on the rights of British citizens living in the EU after Brexit were given a boost as Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy backed the plan. Spain’s agreement is significant as the country hosts the largest number of Britons living abroad in the EU.
Talking to Austria’s Chancellor Christian Kern, Mrs May emphasised her desire for a “strong partnership with the EU”.
But Mrs May told fellow European leaders that they need to bring their defence spending up to two per cent of GDP to share the burden fairly with the UK and US after she had persuaded Mr Trump to back Nato 100 per cent.