France rejects Brexit delay: 'We can't do this every three months'
UPDATED: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday rejected any further delay to Britain's exit from the EU.
The deadline is now scheduled for October 31 but has been further clouded by the political turmoil in London.
"In the current circumstances, its no! ... We are not going to go through this every three months," Le Drian said on Le Grand Rendez-vous Europe1/CNEWS/Les Echos programme.
"The (British) say that they want to put forward other solutions, alternative arrangements so that they can leave," he said, referring to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's efforts to find a way out of the backstop mechanism for Northern Ireland, the main sticking point.
"But we have not seen them and so it is 'no'... let the British authorities tell us the way forward," he said.
"Let them take responsibility for their situation. It’s very worrying. They have to tell us what they want."
Britain was originally meant to leave the European Union on March 29 but with parliament deadlocked the British government ended up negotiating two delays, the latest to October 31.
As reported by The Local on September 5th, Le Drian said that the most likely result now appeared to be a "no-deal Brexit".
Le Drian forecast the potential for tensions to rise between the United Kingdom and France should a deal fail to be reached, saying that the countries would need to work hard to ensure they maintained a continued dialogue.
"There will have to be discussions at some point, even if only about landing airplanes and the Eurostar (cross-Channel rail service)."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also rejected the possibility of extending the deadline, saying there were "no ifs, ands or buts" that the UK would leave the EU on the 31st of October - with or without a deal.
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The deadline is now scheduled for October 31 but has been further clouded by the political turmoil in London.
"In the current circumstances, its no! ... We are not going to go through this every three months," Le Drian said on Le Grand Rendez-vous Europe1/CNEWS/Les Echos programme.
"The (British) say that they want to put forward other solutions, alternative arrangements so that they can leave," he said, referring to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's efforts to find a way out of the backstop mechanism for Northern Ireland, the main sticking point.
"But we have not seen them and so it is 'no'... let the British authorities tell us the way forward," he said.
"Let them take responsibility for their situation. It’s very worrying. They have to tell us what they want."
Britain was originally meant to leave the European Union on March 29 but with parliament deadlocked the British government ended up negotiating two delays, the latest to October 31.
As reported by The Local on September 5th, Le Drian said that the most likely result now appeared to be a "no-deal Brexit".
Le Drian forecast the potential for tensions to rise between the United Kingdom and France should a deal fail to be reached, saying that the countries would need to work hard to ensure they maintained a continued dialogue.
"There will have to be discussions at some point, even if only about landing airplanes and the Eurostar (cross-Channel rail service)."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also rejected the possibility of extending the deadline, saying there were "no ifs, ands or buts" that the UK would leave the EU on the 31st of October - with or without a deal.
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