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Boris Johnson at an event with seventh graders
Photo:
Jack Hill / dpa
It was in mid-June, in a video conversation with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, when Boris Johnson outlined the further course of the Brexit negotiations, as usual jovially.
According to the British Prime Minister, the two sides are not terribly far apart: With a "tiger in the tank" and a bit of "oomph", the desired trade agreement can certainly be penned.
Maybe by July.
It is "pointless" to extend the Brexit palaver into autumn.
Now autumn is just around the corner.
And nothing is wuppered.
On the contrary.
Even before the eighth round of talks had started this week, Johnson once again deliberately maltreated the patience of his negotiating partners.
He let them know that he wanted to overturn the often praised agreement with the EU on the special case of Northern Ireland, which he himself had signed, through a new law.
Admittedly, this is an international breach of the law, but unfortunately inevitable in terms of the pure Brexit doctrine.
And, oh yes: If there is no trade agreement with Brussels by mid-October, it must go without it.
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