Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and leader of far right party The League has warned the EU may try to “swindle” the UK out of Brexit.Former Member of the European Parliament Matteo Salvini said Theresa May should take a hardline stance in her Brexit negotiations, saying: “My experience in the European parliament tells me you either impose yourself or they swindle you.”
Salvini said the UK should be prepared to walk away from talks.
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“Because on some principles there is no need to be flexible and you should not go backwards,” he said.
The Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant politician said in an interview with the Sunday Times that the EU was trying to punish the UK for trying to leave the bloc.
“There is no objectivity or good faith from the European side,” he said.
“I hope the negotiations end well for the UK to serve as an example of the people coming out on top of the EU,” he added.
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He said that the Italian government would be happy to have one-on-one talks with May.
Salvini’s comments come as May tries to sell the Chequers Brexit deal directly to European governments, despite the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier rejecting a key element of the plan.
Speaking last week Barnier said the EU “will not delegate the application of its customs policy and rules, VAT and excise duty collection to a non-member”.
May was in Austria at the weekend, meeting Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
Speaking at a press conference in Salzburg alongside May, Kurz said it was important for the UK to avoid a “hard” or disorderly Brexit, but said otherwise Brexit negotiations were going quite well.
Kurz said he wanted Austria and the UK to have a close relationship post-Brexit.
“It’s important to avoid a hard Brexit,” he said, but said he hoped that relations between the UK and the EU and Austria “remain very strong”. Reported by City A.M. 1 hour ago.
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