The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said that the leaders of the 27 countries - members of the European Union and the United Kingdom agreed to a flexible extension of Brexit until October 31. According to Tusk, such a decision was made so that the British authorities could find the optimal solution to resolve the situation.

“27 EU member states and the United Kingdom agreed on a flexible extension (Brexit term - RT ) until October 31. This means an additional six months for the UK to find the best possible solution, ”Tusk wrote on his Twitter account.

At the same time, Tusk noted that the EU will not reconsider the terms of the agreement on the withdrawal of Britain from the Union.

“Now the situation is in the hands of the United Kingdom in order to ratify the agreement before the completion of the extension. It will also be able to reflect on the whole strategy of Brexit, which may lead to changes in the political declaration, but not in the agreement on withdrawal, ”RIA Novosti quotes Tusk.

The head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, confirmed this position and said that the EU would not revise the Brexit agreement.

“In June, when we meet again, we will not have to re-negotiate among ourselves or with the UK ... The exit agreement must be fully respected. We do not want the exit agreement to be questioned, ”Junker stressed.

The proposal for another postponement was accepted by the Theresa May government only because it is in a dead end, says Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies.

“Despite the fact that Teresa May says that she wants to leave the EU as soon as possible, she does not specify how. The Prime Minister may postpone the vote for as long as desired; in this composition of the parliament she will not receive a positive decision on the agreement. So the time to which it is transferred does not matter. This is just a mislead for your own voters, ”Bruter said in an interview with RT.

Time and alternatives

Initially, the UK was to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019. However, since the exit agreement is blocked by the country's parliament, Brussels provides London with new delays.

  • Theresa May in the British Parliament
  • © Reuters TV via REUTERS

Recall that the current political crisis around Brexit arose from the reluctance of the parliamentary opposition, the Labor Party, the Scottish National Party and the Democratic Unionist Party (representing Northern Ireland) to accept the draft Brexit agreement prepared by Theresa May’s cabinet.

In late March, parliamentarians demanded that May give them control over the Brexit agenda and decided to vote on alternative ways for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

However, none of the options scored the required number of votes.

Two days before the decision of the European Council to provide London with another postponement, the House of Commons approved a bill designed to prevent a “hard” version of Brexit. It speaks of the extension of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on the EU, which defines the procedure and deadlines for the country's withdrawal from the European Union.

No one knows how many more deferments the May government will request and whether Brexit will take place, said Elena Ananyeva, head of the Center for British Studies at the Institute of Europe, RAS, in a conversation with RT.

“It is not known what will happen in the British Parliament in the near future: the party discipline is broken, the legislature is trying to take over the executive. The situation is in the air ... The EU is not interested in Britain withdrawing from the union. However, the unresolved question does not suit the European Union, ”the expert explained.

According to Elena Ananyeva, the postponement until October 31 is due to the early elections to the European Parliament, where the EU should form a new composition of its administrative bodies and adopt a budget.

“Great Britain has several options: approve the deal that Teresa May agreed with the EU in November 2018, either hold elections to the EP and approve the deal afterwards, or hold general parliamentary elections and leave the EU on October 31 without a deal. The British government is against a referendum, ”Ananeva said.

No negotiation

Europeans and British citizens cannot live in conditions when the country's withdrawal from the European Union is constantly postponed without understanding the conditions under which it will take place, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on April 11.

“Neither the British nor the European citizens can live in conditions of constant, eternal Brexit. I hope that this message will be heard in the United Kingdom, ”the minister said.

  • Rally against UK exit from the EU in front of the British Parliament in London, April 10, 2019
  • Reuters
  • © Gonzalo Fuentes

Following Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, he explained that Europe had given this delay to the British government for the adoption of an already existing agreement on withdrawal.

“These negotiations can be resumed only after the UK leaves the EU. In no case is a discussion of a change in the agreement on withdrawal, the British authorities are only given time to ratify it and conduct an orderly exit, ”added Lee Drian.

The main stumbling block, because of which the British parliamentarians do not want to approve the option of the Theresa May agreement, is still the question of the border with Ireland, Vladimir Schweitzer, head of the department of social and political studies at the Institute of Europe, said in an interview with RT

In Northern Ireland, a bloody civil conflict continued for 40 years, ending in 1998 with the signing of the Belfast Peace Agreement. The agreement was based on the absence of a physical border between Northern Ireland, which is part of Britain, and the Republic of Ireland, which remains part of the EU. To provide a way out of the European Union, the British authorities will have to build a border, and this may lead to new conflicts, experts say.

“If the Irish border remains open, it will violate the UK sovereignty system after leaving the EU. If it is decided to close it, the local population will protest: a problem of relations with the local elites will arise and new conflicts will begin between the Irish nationalists and the protestants, ”explained Schweitzer.

According to him, everything suggests that Theresa May’s cabinet is simply not able to bring Brexit to the end - there’s a split in the Conservative Party, and the Prime Minister’s position is too weak.

“The British Parliament opposes the tough Brexit, which will break the economic relations of the United Kingdom with the EU, and agreed only that negotiations should be continued. But the European Union announced that all negotiations with Great Britain were over, ”the expert noted.

Elena Ananeva adds that such a protracted political crisis demonstrates the depth of the split in British society and the political system.

“The majority in the parliament does not want to leave the European Union according to the“ hard ”scenario without an agreement, but other options cause even more disagreement. The British are already disappointed in the authorities of their country. Millions of demonstrations are taking place on the streets, both for brexit and against withdrawing from the EU. The country and the British Parliament are divided, ”the expert concluded.