Europe’s 27 other leaders gathered for an informal summit in the Slovakian capital Bratislava without May on Friday.
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“All these countries have an interest in fighting terrorism, in a more secure Europe, in preventing uncontrolled migration, all have an interest in economic cooperation to create more jobs”, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.
Orban has been one of the most abrasive voices on the issue, saying there should be no more “lawmaking tricks” from European Union institutions, which he said circumvent the sovereign decisions and will of the nation-states on the migration issue.
“We are in a critical situation”.
“I do not have to play in a script to show that we are united”, Renzi said.
The government in Paris, facing elections next spring in which the anti-EU National Front is leading in opinion polls, does not want to given voters the impression that leaving the bloc might be beneficial.
“Europe can, must move forward as long as it has clear priorities: protection, security, prosperity and the future of the youth”, said French president Francois Hollande in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Until now the timing of initial formal talks was clouded by uncertainty and May’s government didn’t offered any specific hint.
European Council president Donald Tusk said the Prime Minister told him during talks at No 10 last week it was “quite likely” she would be ready to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty “maybe in January, maybe in February” 2017.
Increasing EU defence cooperation post-Brexit is meant to be a key issue the leaders hope to rally around, but the issue still threatens to cause divisions.
Merkel said that European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker’s speech before the European Parliament would be the “blueprint’ on which the EU would work over the next few months”.
Cracks in the union are evident everywhere. The migration crisis is the most divisive issue, with many eastern European leaders blaming Dr Merkel for opening the floodgates to refugees from Syria and elsewhere.
French President Francois Hollande, left, speaks with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, center, and Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel after a cruise on the Danube River as an event on the sidelines of an European Union summit in Bratislava on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016.
But Fico himself has taken a very hard line on the migrant issue, refusing to allow in a “single Muslim” and taking the EU’s refugee sharing policy to court. The former UKIP leader, like other pro-Leavers, are anxious that Verhofstadt’s firm negotiating position will mean delivering Brexit will be near-impossible for May and the rest of her government.
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Tensions had bubbled up earlier this week when Luxembourg’s foreign minister called for Hungary to be suspended from the European Union for treating refugees other countries like “animals”.
