A “flexible extension” of Brexit has been agreed upon by the UK and EU with the new date on the 31st October 2019.
Donald Tusk, European Council president said in his statement after speaking five hours of talks at an EU summit in Brussels, “my message to British friends is please do not waste this time.”
However, Theresa May has said that the UK would aim to leave the UK before that date and “as soon as possible.”
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the UK must now hold European elections in May, or leave on 1 June without a deal.
Here’s what he said in a tweet.
@LeoVaradkar
“And we’re done. (1) Flextension to Oct 31st (2) We’ll take stock of the situation at our regular summit in June (3) UK to take part in the @Europarl_EN election or must leave on June 1st without a deal.
Good night!”
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 11, 2019
@LeoVaradkar
“Prime Minister Mrs May had earlier told leaders she wanted to move the UK’s exit date from this Friday to 30 June, with the option of leaving earlier if her withdrawal agreement was ratified by Parliament.”
After talks with Mrs May, Mr Tusk emerged to address reporters at a news conference, he said: “The course of action will be entirely in the UK’s hands: they can still ratify the withdrawal agreement, in which case the extension can be terminated.”
“The UK could also rethink its strategy or choose to cancel Brexit altogether.”
“Let me finish with a message to our British friends: This extension is as flexible as I expected, and a little bit shorter than I expected, but it’s still enough to find the best possible solution.
“Please do not waste this time.”