German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will fight for an “orderly Brexit” until “the very last hour”. Mrs Merkel said that current events were in a “state of flux”, adding that European Union leaders would try to react to whatever the UK proposed. The UK is due to leave the EU in 10 days' time, with or without a deal.
France and Germany have signed a new treaty on Tuesday aimed at breathing new life into their place at the centre of the European Union. As the UK moves to leave the EU and a rising tide of populism challenges the core liberal values of the bloc, the new treaty commits wholeheartedly to defending it.
European Council President Donald Tusk has hinted that the UK should stay in the EU, after the prime minister's Brexit deal was rejected in parliament. If a deal is impossible, and no-one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is? he tweeted.
France plans to introduce legislation to toughen sanctions on undeclared protests in response to violent “yellow-vest” demonstrations, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Monday in a hardening of the government’s stance on the unrest.
French president Emmanuel Macron has promised a minimum wage rise and tax concessions in response to weeks of violent protests. France has seen four weekends of violent protests against fuel tax rises, living costs and other issues. Speaking in a televised address, Mr. Macron condemned the violence but said the protesters' anger was deep, and in many ways legitimate.
The French government's decision to suspend fuel tax and utility hikes on Tuesday did little to appease protesters, who called the move a “first step” and vowed to fight on after large-scale rioting in Paris last weekend.
Protesters from France's “gilet jaunes” (yellow vests) movement have pulled out of a meeting with PM Edouard Philippe scheduled for Tuesday. Some members of the group said they had received death threats from hard-line protesters warning them not to enter into negotiations with the government.
Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro said “prudence” was necessary before signing any trade agreement with other nations, in reference to the ongoing negotiations between Mercosur and the European Union.
His presidential plane landed at Buenos Aires' international Ezeiza airport for the G-20 Summit Wednesday night. After parking, France's Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte went down the stairs to greet .... a tarmac worker or two, after which the pair kept walking to their car. Right before getting inside, they were told to go back on their steps and meet Argentine Vicepresident Gabriela Michetti for the official welcome that almost did not happen.
While in Argentina for the upcoming G-20 Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to hold bilateral talks with France's Emmanuel Macron, China's Xi Xinpung and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Kremlin sources announced Wednesday.