A gang of EU nations are teaming up to block Brexit unless Theresa May agrees to allow their citizens to live and work in Britain.
The leaders of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic are ready to put the brakes on Brexit and issued a stark warning to Mrs May.
It comes as Mrs May is preparing to negotiate with the EU’s other 27 member states on the terms of Britain’s exit from the Brussels bloc.
The Prime Minister faces the dilemma of wanting to protect Britain’s access to the EU single market but is also facing strong demands from within her party to limit the rights of EU citizens to come to Britain for work.
Now several European nations are teaming-up to twist Theresa May’s arm in a bid to ensure their citizens retain access to Britain.
Speaking after a summit in Bratislava, Robert Fico, the Slovak leader and head of the group of the four nations dubbed the Visegrad group (V4), said: “V4 countries will be uncompromising.
“Unless we feel a guarantee that these people are equal, we will veto any agreement between the EU and Britain. I think Britain knows this is an issue for us where there’s no room for compromise.”
On Friday, Mrs May was issued with a stern warning from EU leaders, including Angela Merkel, that Britain would not be allowed to access the single market unless freedom of movement rules were preserved.
Mr Fico said he was opposed to any “cherry-picking” in negotiations, insisting that the EU’s founding freedoms must remain.
The Prime Minister has not yet guaranteed that EU migrants already residing in Britain would be allowed to remain post-Brexit.
Philip Hammond is reportedly considering dropping his desire for Britain to remain in the single market, preferring instead to secure Britain’s migration controls.
0 comments:
Post a Comment