In phone talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Francois Hollande and Irish prime minister Enda Kenny, she said the UK would "need some time to prepare" for Brexit negotiations. She added she hoped the talks "could be conducted in a constructive and positive spirit", according to her office. But EU leaders have started to put pressure on her to trigger Article 50, the procedure to exit the EU. Hollande "repeated his desire that negotiations for Britain's exit from the European Union should be launched as quickly as possible", a statement from his office said. In his congratulation letter to May, European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said that the UK and the EU had to "address soon" the "new situation" created by the Brexit vote on 23 June.
He added he looked forward to learning about May's "intentions in this regard."
On Sunday, Merkel had told Germany's ZDF channel that "the decision has been taken … and the next step is to invoke Article 50." In an interview with the Polish weekly Politiyka, European Council president Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that "no-one should be seething with desire to punish, humiliate [the UK] for what they have done to us", but he added that "we cannot let them profit from Brexit, as that would be lethal for the EU" In her first statement as prime minister, Theresa May focused on domestic issues and did not develop her views on Brexit. "We are living through an important moment in our country’s history. Following the referendum, we face a time of great national change," she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment