A12 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, OCTOBER 21 , 2019
Then comes the bad news:
“Regrettably, Parliament missed
the opportunity to inject momen-
tum into the ratification process
for the new Withdrawal Agree-
ment.”
Then it puts the burden on
Tusk: “I have made clear since
becoming Prime Minister, and
made clear to Parliament again
today, my view, and the Govern-
ment’s position, that a further
extension would damage the in-
terests of the UK and our EU
partners, and the relationship be-
tween us.”
The Europeans have hit the
“pause” button again, as they wait
to see what happens in the British
Parliament this week.
E.U. diplomats in Brussels told
The Washington Post they will
watch developments unfold in
Britain before deciding how to
handle the Brexit delay request.
Tusk will spend “a few days”
speaking to E.U. leaders before
coming up with a plan, one diplo-
mat said.
Johnson’s multiple-letter strat-
egy is unlikely to have an effect on
the final decision, diplomats
said.
But E.U. leaders would prefer
to know whether the new Brexit
deal has passed Parliament be-
fore they decide how long to delay
the date and on what terms.
There is little question that an
extension will be granted.
E.U. ambassadors gathered
Sunday morning for a 15-minute
meeting in which they signed off
on the Brexit deal and forwarded
it to the European Parliament so
that it could be ratified this week.
That way, the accord would be
squared away, from the perspec-
tive of the Europeans, on the
off-chance that Johnson manages
to win approval in London.
The E.U. diplomats did not talk
about the extension request, two
people familiar with the gather-
ing said.
As has been the case through
much of the Brexit debate, Brit-
ain’s Sunday morning talk shows
focused on the political fallout
and the artful bobbing and weav-
ing — with not much about what
Johnson’s deal would mean for
trade, business or ordinary peo-
ple.
The Sunday newspapers fo-
cused on blame.
The pro-Johnson Telegraph
was all sputtering blind-quoted
vitriol: “Let’s call this what it is,”
said one furious Downing Street
insider, according to the Tele-
graph. “An act of sabotage.”
The Sunday Express banner
headline was “Why Won’t They
Let Us Leave?” The Mail on Sun-
day went with “House of Fools.”
The Observer and the Sunday
Mirror called Johnson’s defeat in
Parliament the day before “hu-
miliating.”
[email protected]
[email protected]Birnbaum reported from Brussels.BY WILLIAM BOOTH
AND MICHAEL BIRNBAUMlondon — Prime Minister Boris
Johnson vowed he’d never, ever
ask the European Union to push
the Brexit deadline beyond Octo-
ber.
Now he has relented.
At the very last minute on
Saturday night, Johnson asked
the Europeans for a Brexit delay
until the end of January 2020.
In fact, he sent three letters,
leaving people to puzzle over ex-
actly which one meant what —
and to wonder: Where Brexit is
headed next?
A most excellent question. Be-
cause nobody really knows.
After lawmakers voted 322 to
306 to withhold support for John-
son’s new Brexit deal, scuppering
his hope of finalizing Britain’s
exit plan at an extraordinary —
but ill-named? — “Super Satur-
day” session in Parliament, the
prime minister was forced to fold
and seek an extension.
A bill passed last month by
British lawmakers mandated that
if a deal were not approved by
Saturday, Johnson would have to
formally seek a three-month ex-
tension beyond the Oct. 31 dead-
line.
Johnson did that.
Grudgingly? For sure.
With an eye on looming elec-
tions? Indubitably.
After the Saturday showdown
in Parliament came a kind of
Sunday hangover, with the Brit-
ish people, and the Europeans, in
a bit of a fog, as they read the
morning papers and slurped tea.
Johnson’s government an-
nounced it was now seeking a
“meaningful vote” on his Brexit
deal on Monday afternoon — a
ballot that Johnson was denied by
Parliament’s maneuverings on
Saturday.
If that vote happens, Johnson’s
ministers promised, the Brexit
deal will pass.
On the Sunday morning talk
shows in Britain, Johnson’s cabi-
net emphasized momentum and
speed and “let’s get Brexit done.”
His opponents, including
members of his own Conservative
Party, emphasized wait and scru-
tinize, and let’s first see what the
government’s economic analysis
says about the impact.
Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raab told the BBC, “Notwith-
standing the parliamentary she-
nanigans, we appear to have now
the numbers to get this through.”
As for Johnson’s three letters to
the E.U., the first did not contain
his signature. Much was made of
this on political Twitter.
“Childish,” senior Labour Party
leader Keir Starmer said Sunday,
suggesting it was a stunt.
But it turns out that the lack of
signature doesn’t matter much,
as it was an official communique
from the prime minister.
The president of the European
Council, Donald Tusk, said late
Saturday that the British govern-
ment had notified the E.U. of its
extension request.
“I will now start consulting
E.U. leaders on how to react,” Tusk
said.
But Johnson also sent a side
letter, a “Dear Donald” letter, to
Tusk.
It begins on a personal note: “It
was good to see you again at the
European Council this week.”Brexit’s future remains
a mystery amid delay
Johnson seeks
a ‘meaningful vote’
on a dealBY JOANNA SLATERnew delhi — India and Paki-
stan exchanged fire across the
line dividing the disputed Hima-
layan region of Kashmir on Sat-
urday and Sunday, killing nine
civilians and soldiers, according
to authorities in both countries.
It was one of the deadliest
sequences this year at the Line of
Control, the highly militarized
frontier where soldiers from the
two countries regularly trade
small-arms and artillery fire.
The barrage came amid in-
creased tension between the
nuclear-armed rivals.
In August, India withdrew
Kashmir’s semiautonomous sta-
tus, shut down communications
in the region and detained thou-
sands of people. The moves in-
censed Pakistan, which consid-
ers itself the defender of Kash-miri Muslims.
India accuses Pakistan of
stoking a three-decade insur-
gency against Indian rule in
Kashmir by sending fighters
and arms across the Line of
Control. Pakistan denies the ac-
cusations.
Five civilians and one soldier
were killed on Pakistan’s side of
the Line of Control, a spokesman
for the Pakistani army said Sun-
day. Two Indian soldiers and one
civilian were also killed, a
spokesman for the Indian De-
fense Ministry said.
India and Pakistan claimed to
have killed larger numbers of the
other country’s soldiers in the
incident, but such assertions
could not be verified indepen-
dently.
Gen. Bipin Rawat of the Indi-
an army told reporters that the
exchange began when militantsattempted to cross into Indian-
controlled territory. Pakistan re-
jected the accusation and said
India’s firing was “indiscrimi-
nate and unprovoked.”
Exchanges of fire across the
Line of Control have increased in
recent years, an ongoing con-
frontation that some analysts
have called a “war by other
means.”
The two countries reached a
cease-fire agreement in 2003,
and for several years, relative
calm prevailed on the de facto
frontier in Kashmir. Since 2014,
however, cease-fire violations
have jumped.
Last year was the worst year in
15 years for such cross-border
firings, according to data from
the independent Indo-Pak Con-
flict Monitor. Each side reported
2,000 or more incidents.
[email protected]9 killed as India, Pakistan
exchange fire in Kashmir
SAJJAD QAYYUM/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGESA man looks at his damaged house a day after cross-border shelling in Kashmir. Six civilians and three
soldiers were killed between the two sides, Pakistani and Indian officials said.
SIMON DAWSON/REUTERS
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
has written to the E.U., asking
for a new Brexit deadline.MD MHIC # 1176 | VA # 2701039723 | DC # 2242The CaseStudy®
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