UK warns EU that it 'won't blink first' in post-Brexit negoations

As the post-Brexit UK-EU negotiations are appearing to be leading a deadlock on several grounds, Britain has warned the European Union that it is not going to blink first in the trade talks. UK’s top Brexit negotiator warned the 27-nation-bloc on September 6 in a televised interview as the negotiations between both sides have only made a little headway on agreeing for a new trade agreement to be followed after the 11-month transition period ends on December 31, 2020. 

David Frost told the Mail that the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government has come after the previous administration and negotiating team that “had blinked” and “had its bluff called at critical moments”. According to him, it led the EU to “not take our word seriously”. Therefore, Frost explained that a lot of what the UK is aiming at doing is to get the bloc to realise that Britain means what it says and their position shall be taken “seriously”. This came just days before the UK-EU post-Brexit talks are set to resume in London on September 8.

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France, Germany blame UK for stalled talks

Meanwhile, as France slammed Britain for intransigent and unrealistic” attitude during the Brexit trade talks, Germany’s European affairs minister Michael Roth has reportedly said that the UK needs to be more ‘realistic and pragmatic’ in the negotiations. The UK-EU Brexit talks have reached a deadlock, Roth expressed deep disappointment in an interview with an international media agency because these negotiations will establish the future relationship of Britain with the 27-nation-bloc. 

“The negotiations are not advancing because of an intransigent and, let’s be clear, unrealistic attitude of the United Kingdom,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian while speaking alongside his German counterpart Heiko Maas.

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Britain is in an 11-month transition period with the 27-nation-bloc after exiting the union on January 31. The UK and EU had begun the trade negotiations in March after being halted due to coronavirus outbreak and it would set the frame for the future relationship between both sides after December 31. However, not much progress has been made in the talks and in the letter, Frost had also accused EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier of demanding unprecedented authority over the British laws and its institutions through “novel and unbalances proposals”.

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Image: AP