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(CNN) - The European Union announced this Monday to the United Kingdom a three-month extension of brexit, despite Boris Johnson's initial promises not to ask for another deadline and that the United Kingdom would leave the European Union on October 31.
European leaders accepted Monday the request of the United Kingdom for an extension of brexit until January 2020, tweeted the president of the Council of the European Union, Donald Tusk.
He said the extension, which can be shortened if Britain approves an agreement in the meantime, will be formalized soon.
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The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK's request for a #Brexit flextension until 31 January 2020. The decision is expected to be formalised through a written procedure.
- Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) October 28, 2019
This is the delay that Johnson insisted he would never request, but his hands were tied when Parliament forced an extension if Johnson's exit agreement could not be approved.
With this decision, opposition parliamentarians could now support Johnson's attempt to force early general elections later.
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Another week of chaos in brexit
"Without buts or conditions."
That was Boris Johnson's repeated promise to the British people: that Brexit would not be delayed again and the United Kingdom would leave the European Union on October 31, but it got a postponement and approved its request for a third delay.
It means that the UK will avoid a brexit without agreement this Thursday. But for Johnson, who said he would rather be "dead in a ditch" rather than delay the departure again and the inability to deliver a brexit on Halloween is almost a nightmare.
After announcing this decision in the morning, this Monday there will be a second great moment: Parliament will vote on Johnson's attempt to force a general election at Christmas, and a possible route out of the tortuous stagnation of brexit.
Although this was supposed to be Brexit week, at least the next few days could smooth the course of Britain's political chaos.
What will happen now
Over the past few days, leaders in Europe and Westminster have been locked in a confrontation: the European Union wanted to hear the United Kingdom's next steps before granting an extension, and British politicians await a Brussels verdict before deciding on an election. anticipated
But now a part of the equation has fallen into place, since the delay of brexit was granted.
In theory, that should make a choice more likely; The United Kingdom now has time to have a campaign period and carry out a vote, with several weeks to spare before the new brexit deadline.
But as Prime Minister Boris Johnson already knew, it is easier to say that there is a choice to make it. It needs two thirds of parliamentarians to support the plan, and the support of the opposition Labor Party.
And Labor have been firm in opposing a vote until a brexit without an agreement is "off the table." They have been less clear about what exactly "off the table" means; Both will depend on whether the party considers this extension satisfactory to support a survey.
Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn could still argue that the threat remains a non-agreement in January 2020, as well as at the end of the transition period in the Johnson brexit agreement.
Boris Johnson European Union