Austrian FM: UK Must Present Specific Brexit Proposals to EU by April 9

By Staff, Agencies

London must make a specific proposal on Brexit no later than April 9 — before the EU extraordinary summit slated for April 10 - otherwise, the United Kingdom will leave the bloc without a deal, Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl said on Tuesday.

According to Kneissl, the latest May's statement shows that the UK government needs to reach an agreement with the opposition and thus propose something new to Brussels, but the European Union does not know anything about this proposal.

"As the European Union we do not want to be held hostage. The question is what the 'added value' is and what the new [things] are. This should be presented no later than April 9, so that the EU heads of state and government know on April 10 what exactly the United Kingdom offers," Kneissl said in the air of Austrian ORF broadcaster.

According to the minister, if the UK parliament fails to vote for an agreement on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union before April 12, then a "hard" Brexit will take place on April 12.

Kneissl specified that Brussels has never sought a "hard" Brexit, but the bloc needs to receive clear solutions from London in this regard.

The UK government and Brussels reached a divorce deal late last year but the UK parliament refuses to back the agreement and cannot agree on any alternative measures. The country was supposed to have left the bloc on March 29 but missed the deadline, and the European Union gave London time until April 12 to come up with an alternative solution or leave without a deal on that same day.

On Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May in an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock called on Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labor Party, to jointly discuss the next steps in the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.