Logo Polskiego Radia

UK election: Polish Deputy PM hopes for ‘softer’ Brexit

PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk 09.06.2017 15:31
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said he hopes that the outcome of the British general election will lead to a “softer” Brexit or even to the UK remaining in the EU.
Mateusz Morawiecki. Photo: PAP/Tomasz GzellMateusz Morawiecki. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell

Just days before talks on Britain's divorce from the EU were due to begin, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party won the most seats in a snap election on Thursday but lost its parliamentary majority.

May had called the election in the hope of increasing her majority and bolstering her position in Brexit negotiations.

Morawiecki, who is also Poland’s finance minister, said: “It’s hard to say I’m happy -- because it’s not for us to judge the results of the elections in this way.

“But if this leads to the possibility of a softer exit by Britain and a compromise model linked to Brexit, then I would be happy with that.”

He added: “Who knows, perhaps British society will still decide it’s worth remaining after all in a Europe of nation states.”

The election results were widely seen as a blow for May, who was criticised for making a tactical mistake in calling an early election. Meanwhile, EU leaders voiced concern that the British Tories’ loss of their parliamentary majority would delay Brexit negotiations.

"Perhaps, due to the loss of the parliamentary majority, the British team of negotiators will have to be altered and it is not known who will hold responsibility for specific areas of negotiations,” Patryk Toporowski from the Polish Institute of International Affairs told Polish Radio.

(pk)

Source: IAR

Print
Copyright © Polskie Radio S.A About Us Contact Us