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The 27 European Union (EU) members have agreed on a united and unchanged stance on Brexit and look forward to working together with the next British prime minister, President of the European Council Donald Tusk told a press conference Friday.
Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt are the two remaining candidates left in the race to become prime minister, with Johnson odds-on favorite to win next month.
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"We want to avoid a disorderly Brexit and establish a future relationship that is as close as possible with the UK," said the president, adding that "Maybe the process of Brexit will be even more exciting than before because of some personnel decisions in London but nothing has changed in our position."
"We are open for talks when it comes to the declaration on the future UK-EU relations if the position of the United Kingdom were to evolve," said Tusk, asserting that the Withdrawal Agreement is not open for renegotiation.
A combination photo of British Conservative MP Boris Johnson (L) and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. /VCG Photo
He also demanded the EU should be informed on the state of play of planning for a no-deal scenario.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker held a similar opinion, saying that "there is nothing new because we repeated unanimously there will be no renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement."
Tusk said the European Union merely had to be patient now and wait to see if the new leader came out with fresh proposals.
Britain's outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May arrives for a European Council Summit at The Europa Building in Brussels, June 20, 2019. /VCG Photo
French President Emmanuel Macron said May had never blocked the European Union and hoped that her successor would show the same decency and same seriousness.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed that she and fellow leaders had expressed the need for good cooperation with the next British leader, but stressed that the withdrawal agreement was "fully negotiated."
Roughly 160,000 grassroots Conservative Party members across Britain will vote for its party leader next week and the result of the postal ballot will be announced in the week of July 22.
(Cover: President of the European Council Donald Tusk speaks at a press conference held following the second day of a European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 21, 2019. /VCG Photo)