Poland backs Brexit delay

Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-22 01:30:16|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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WARSAW, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Poland would agree to a delay to Brexit if that could help bring about an orderly exit, the Polish government's spokesperson said on Thursday.

"A no-deal Brexit is the worst solution of all," spokesperson Joanna Kopcinska said during an interview with Polish state radio.

"We are against and we'll do everything to avert a no-deal Brexit, but the Polish government is also prepared for this unfavourable scenario," Kopcinska said.

"If the proposal to postpone the date of Britain leaving the EU is helpful for the ratification (of the exit deal), then Poland will present its tangible, crucial and fact-based stance," Kopcinska said.

"We totally support finding the best solutions and we would like great Britain to be (in the EU) as long as possible, as Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said: the exit process could as well take years," she said.

Marcin Ociepa, undersecretary of state in the Polish Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology, told the Polish State News Agency (PAP) on Thursday: "Today we see that, if we stick rigidly to the date of the divorce between the UK and the EU set for the end of March, we are not able to obtain a rational Brexit."

"That's why Poland will surely accept the position to postpone Brexit as long as needed so that the British people can be well prepared for it," Ociepa said.

Kopcinska and Ociepa were speaking as the EU member states' leaders converged on Brussels for a two-day summit starting Thursday afternoon, during which the Brexit date will be a major subject.

British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected on Thursday to ask for the postponement of the Brexit date until June 30 from the scheduled March 29, to allow more time to persuade the British Parliament to approve an exit deal.

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