Brexit

British Prime Minister Theresa May promised on June 21 to listen more to businesses' concerns about Brexit as Queen Elizabeth formally opened parliament by announcing the government's program for the next two years.

There used to be two states, two democracies that one could always trust: the United States and Britain. In the eyes of Greece, a country locked somewhere between Western Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East, these two democracies carried particular significance.

Europe is slowly turning a corner as a wave of anti-European Union movements peters out, Donald Tusk told EU leaders in a letter published before he will chair their two-day summit starting on June 22.

Turkey on its own can help expand economic growth in the European Union, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on June 20. 

"An updated Turkey-EU Customs Union agreement is most important for us," he said at a fast-breaking (iftar) dinner held by the Foreign Economic Relations Board.

Flickr/ Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

Billionaire investor George Soros says Brexit is a "lose-lose proposition" for the United Kingdom and the European Union. Soros is best known for bringing the Bank of England to its knees by short-selling the pound.

British finance minister Philip Hammond said on June 20 the world's fifth-biggest economy faced tough times as it tries to avoid a damaging "cliff-edge" departure from the European Union.

Brexit manages to consolidate pro-European attitudes and reduce Euroscepticism, political scientist Prof. Anna Krasteva, an expert in European politics, told FOCUS Radio's Good Morning Bulgaria.

Britain and the European Union began their first formal Brexit negotiations on June 19, under pressure to seal a deal amid disarray in London over whether to go for a hard or soft divorce.

At stake is not just Britain's future but also Europe's post-war political order and its place in the world which could be fatally undermined without an agreement by the March 2019 deadline.

Britain starts formal talks to leave the EU on Monday, seeking a deal "like no other in history" despite entering fiendishly difficult negotiations with a badly weakened government, reported AFP.

Britain begins historic talks on June 19 on leaving the European Union while still mourning the victims of a devastating fire and reeling from an election that has badly weakened the government.