Portuguese minister snubs EU hardliners & calls for GOOD Brexit deal despite ‘weak’ May
PORTUGAL’S Foreign Minister has snubbed the EU’s hardline Europhiles as he insisted the UK could reach a “balanced” agreement with the bloc despite Theresa May’s “weakened” position.
By AJAY NAIR
Express.co.uk
Thu, Jun 22, 2017
Augusto Santos Silva expressed his sympathies with Theresa May’s shock result with his own administration forming a minority government.
Appearing on the BBC’s Newsnight, he then said he was “confident” a fair deal would be reached with the EU and the UK’s interests being “convergent”.
Presenter Evan Davis asked: “[Mrs May] has not got the parliamentary majority she wanted, she’s a weakened Prime Minister n that respect. Do you think that’s going to make it harder for this negotiation?
“She will not be able to come back and ask for concessions or compromises from Parliament or the British people.”
But Mr Santos Silva insisted the General Election result would make negotiations harder for the UK.
He said: “No, we have to respect the electoral results in the United Kingdom. As you know the Portuguese government is a minority one that has a majority in the parliament because we have an agreement with other parties, so it’s a very analogous case to the British one nowadays.
“So Theresa May as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will represent the interests of the United Kingdom in the context of negotiations and the interests of the United Kingdom and the interests of Europe, I think, they are convergent.
“So I’m confident that we shall reach a balanced result in this very complex negotiation.”
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