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Polish PM says Britain 'leaving EU, not Europe'

PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki 20.12.2018 15:45
Britain is "leaving the European Union, not Europe," the Polish prime minister was quoted as saying on Thursday as he urged continued close ties with London post-Brexit.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Britain's Theresa May give a news conference in London on Thursday. Photo: PAP/Paweł SupernakPolish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Britain's Theresa May give a news conference in London on Thursday. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Mateusz Morawiecki made the comment while in London to meet Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May for talks at her Downing Street office, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Various Polish officials have previously spoken in favour of friendly relations between London and Brussels after Britain's exit from the EU.

Morawiecki and May were on Thursday meeting in London along with senior members of their Cabinets as part of their countries’ third annual “intergovernmental consultations.”

Polish government ministers were later in the day expected to sit down with their British counterparts to discuss issues such as international affairs, security, defence, finance and prosperity post-Brexit.

Ahead of the Polish-British intergovernmental talks, May was quoted as saying that Poland was one of Britain’s "closest friends and allies."

She also said, as cited by the gov.uk website, that the two countries shared “an unwavering commitment to supporting a stable and peaceful Europe.”

Poland and Britain in June discussed ways of enhancing their “strategic foreign, defence and security partnership” during annual talks between senior government officials.

Poland and Britain last December signed a treaty on defence and security cooperation as ministers from the two countries held their second intergovernmental consultations in Warsaw on issues including bilateral relations, Brexit and security.

Poland and Britain held their first intergovernmental consultations in London in November 2016.

In an interview with Britain's The Daily Telegraph, published ahead of his trip to London, Morawiecki called on European Union leaders to help Britain’s Theresa May navigate the "storm" of Brexit.

Morawiecki and May on Thursday headed together to meet members of the Polish community in London, the IAR news agency reported.

They extended Christmas greetings and listened to the carol Silent Night as sung in Polish and English by a children's choir, according to the news agency.

Britain started the process of leaving the European Union last year, with a final divorce date set for March 29, 2019.

Some 985,000 Poles lived in Britain in June this year, down from 1.02 million in December last year, according to Britain’s Office for National Statistics.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, gov.uk

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