Latvia’s Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics speaks during an interview in Riga, Latvia May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
August 15, 2018
LONDON (Reuters) – The chance of Britain failing to reach an exit deal with the European Union before the end of March next year is now 50-50, Latvia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkevics said during an interview with the BBC.
With less than eight months until Britain quits the EU, the government has yet to agree a divorce deal with Brussels and has stepped up planning for the possibility of leaving the bloc without any formal agreement.
Ahead of a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday, Rinkevics was asked by the BBC what he thought the risk was of not reaching a deal by the March 29 exit day. He said: “Frankly at this point I would rate it 50-50.”
Hunt, who was in Helsinki on Tuesday, said the risk of a no-deal Brexit has been increasing and everyone needed to prepare for the possibility of a “chaotic no-deal Brexit”.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Writing by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
