Tusk to recommend EU27 to grant extension for Brexit

Brussels, Oct 23 (IANS) Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, said that he would recommend the 27 member states of the European Union to grant an extension for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the bloc.Taking to Twitter on Tuesday night, Tusk said that he would “recommend the EU27 accept the UK request for an extension,” for which he would propose a “written procedure.” That means in case that the 27 member states agree, a summit for their leaders to greenlight the extension would likely be unnecessary, Xinhua news agency reported. Tusk made the statement after Boris Johnson, the UK’s Prime Minister, paused the process of ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons on Tuesday night. The extension that the UK government asked for was until the end of January 2020 and would avoid a so-called no-deal Brexit at the end of this month. Earlier in the night, Johnson’s Brexit plans were thrown into chaos when the House of Commons rejected his call for a fast-track debate. Johnson announced the pause afterwards, likely prolonging the Brexit procedure that he had wished to finish as soon as possible. –IANSsdr/