‘Tell us what you want’: European officials scold UK, say London has to get its act together

European officials expressed irritation and skepticism on Wednesday over the Brexit standoff in the British parliament, which rejected for a second time a deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May with the EU.

“We are at the very limits of what’s bearable,” Germany’s Europe Minister Michael Roth told Deutschlandfunk radio regarding the Brexit debacle. “We have already changed the exit agreement once to suit Britain... We are open and prepared to talk but we aren’t getting any clear views from Britain on what they want, only what they don’t want.”

His fellow cabinet member, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, said that by rejecting an orderly exit from the EU British politicians were playing “with the welfare of their citizens and the economy in a reckless way.”

British MPs are expected to again express ‘what they don’t want’ from Brexit on Wednesday by rejecting a no-deal withdrawal from the European Union. They may later vote on whether to ask the EU for an extension of the current Brexit deadline, which is currently set for March 29.

Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian MEP who serves as the legislature’s representative for Brexit, said such an extension should only be granted if British lawmakers offer a concrete plan for what they could achieve after getting one. He warned Britain against trying to hijack the agenda in the upcoming pan-European election with Brexit problems in late May.

He also went on Twitter to crack a joke at the expense of Britons, saying that those who voted to leave with the goal of taking back control of their country now see it spiraling out of control.

EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier distanced himself and the entire union from the situation, saying that “now this impasse can only be solved in the UK,” and that no more concessions would come from Brussels.

“We are at a critical point. The risk of ‘no deal’ has never been higher,” he warned.

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