Daily US Times, London: European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans wrote a letter in the Guardian where he expresses his ‘deep hurt’ over Britain’s exit from the EU and concluding: ‘You will always be welcome to come back.’
‘Since I went to a British school, you have always been part of me. Now you are leaving, and it breaks my heart’, he wrote.
The letter nicknamed as ‘love letter’.
The UK is about to leave the European Union on 31 January next year.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson won the recent general election with a majority. Just eight days after his victory, MPs passed his Brexit deal on 20 December.
What did Mr Timmermans say?
The letter is emotional. Mr Timmermans recalled his time at St George’s British International School in Rome and said that, during his life, ‘Britain was always there. As part of me.’
The letter starts by saying he ‘recently read a delightful book of love letters to Europe. And it made me contemplate my love for Britain’.
The executive vice-president of the European Commission adds: ‘I know you now. And I love you. For who you are and what you gave me. I’m like an old lover.’
Mr Timmermans acknowledged that there differences between the member states, which can be both negative and positive force, and that things can ‘quickly get out of hand’.
He mentioned that t6he UK people are still in confusion between whether the country should leave the EU or not and says ‘I see it is hurting you.
‘Truth be told, I felt deeply hurt when you decided to leave. Three years later, I am just sad that a member of our family wants to sever our ties. But at the same time, I find comfort in the thought that family ties can never really be severed. We’re not going away, and you will always be welcome to come back’, he writes.
The Dutch national said the letter ‘I love you. For who you are and what you gave me. I’m like an old lover’.
The former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett tweeted the letter was ‘Something to remember. And thank you.’