Merkel gives Johnson 30 days to find solution to avoid no-deal Brexit

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Merkel gives Johnson 30 days to find solution to avoid no-deal Brexit

Macron rules out renegotiating Brexit deal, as French see no deal as ‘most likely outcome’

Philip Oltermann in Berlin and Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Wed 21 Aug 2019 20.28 BST First published on Wed 21 Aug 2019 18.44 BST

Angela Merkel has challenged Boris Johnson to come up with a solution to avert a no-deal Brexit “in the next 30 days”, putting responsibility for stopping the UK crashing out of the EU firmly at the British prime minister’s door.

After weeks of diplomatic tension, the German chancellor used her first face-to-face meeting with her UK counterpart on Wednesday to emphasise that Britain still has the power to resolve the crisis, suggesting that the backstop was “a placeholder that will no longer be necessary” if a solution to the impasse over the Irish border can be found.

But her tentative olive branch was set against a backdrop of pessimism in France ahead of Johnson’s trip there on Thursday, with officials warning that Paris now views a no-deal Brexit as “the most likely outcome” and president Emmanuel Macron emphasising that a renegotiation at this point “is not an option”.

Saying that changes to the political declaration could yet provide a way forward, Merkel added an agreement could take two years “but maybe we can find that solution in the next 30 days”.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/21/merkel-gives-johnson-30-days-to-find-solution-to-avoid-no-deal-brexit

[comradebillyboy]

1. The Brits are so screwed...

[BlueMTexpat]

2. If you haven't already seen this

excellent John Oliver "Last Week Tonight" episode, it's a must. He discusses how Johnson is different from Trump but just as much of a phony and scam artist.

https://time.com/5636284/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-boris-johnson/

One quote from the link:

For years, Johnson has been seen as “a lovable mess, weathering adversity with humor and good cheer,” but according to Oliver, that may be a very calculated image. He said Johnson’s greatest trick is “presenting his own lack of preparation so charmingly that you actually doubt he’s unprepared, but he is.”