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Europe Stalls Over Boris’ Confusing Brexit Request

The E.U. held a rare Sunday meeting among ambassadors from the 27 member states and decided not to decide what to do about Boris Johnson’s complicated Brexit extension letters.

Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 member states decided in a rare Sunday meeting that they would take more time to consider a confusing non-request for a Brexit extension. On Saturday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent an unsigned letter to the E.U. under threat of breaching a parliamentary law that requires him to ask for an extension for the Oct. 31 deadline by which the U.K. must leave the E.U. Johnson then sent a second, signed letter insisting the E.U. not grant the extension that he had asked for in the first letter, calling any delay “deeply corrosive.” On Sunday, the E.U. decided to take the matter to the European Parliament for a vote in Strasbourg next week after the U.K. parliament has debated the deal they struck with Johnson. “We’re looking for more clarity towards the end of the week,” an E.U. official told Reuters. “Hoping that by that time we will also see how things develop in London.”