BRUSSELS (AP) – European Union Council President Donald Tusk said Saturday that Britain will face a united bloc of 27 EU nations in its divorce negotiations and warned that any demands from Prime Minister Theresa May will be dealt with “firmly.”
Tusk’s remarks came before he chairs a summit of 27 EU leaders in Brussels to finalize the cornerstones of their negotiating stance after May triggered two years of exit talks on March 29. The negotiations themselves are to start shortly after snap elections in Britain on June 8.
Tusk insisted that there can be no discussions on a future relationship before some key issues like how much Britain owes the bloc are sufficiently agreed, and he said that the welfare of citizens and families living in each other’s nations will be the priority once the talks start.
All sides “need solid guarantees for all citizens and their families who will be affected by Brexit on both sides. This must be the No. 1 priority,” Tusk said Some 3 million citizens from the 27 nations live in Britain while up to 2 million Britons live on the continent, all facing uncertainly on such issues as welfare and employment.
Tusk said that sustained unity of the 27 will help May since she will have political certainty throughout the talks.