EU reluctantly congratulates Johnson on sweeping win

EU reluctantly congratulates Johnson on sweeping win

'We will get Brexit done on time,' British PM declares after romping to majority

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at a campaign event at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London on Friday. (AP photo)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at a campaign event at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London on Friday. (AP photo)

BRUSSELS: EU leaders welcomed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's election triumph and called for a quick Brexit vote in the British parliament, but the Czech prime minister warned it was "bad news for Europe".

He is a charismatic leader," Prime Minister Andrej Babis said in reaction to the victory of Johnson's Conservative Party, which swept the opposition aside across much of England on his promise to get Brexit done.

"He won and now they will leave, unfortunately. That is bad news for Europe," he said as he arrived for a second day of an EU summit in Brussels.

Charles Michel, who chairs the EU summits, also congratulated Johnson but did not dwell on the result, instead calling on Britain's parliament to hold a swift parliament vote to approve the agreement with the EU that sets the terms of Britain's exit.

Michel said the EU was ready to negotiate a free-trade agreement with Britain but called on London to work in good faith.

"We expect, as soon as possible, the vote by the British Parliament ... It's important to have clarity, as soon as possible," Michel told reporters as he arrived for a second day of an EU leaders summit. "We are ready," he said of trade talks.

Johnson promised not to let down voters whose hands had "quivered over the ballot paper" before backing his Conservative party for the first time.

"We will get Brexit done on time by the 31st of January, no ifs, no buts, no maybes," he told cheering supporters on Friday.

At a party event in central London, Johnson acknowledged those who had switched allegiances, and whose hands he said may have "quivered over the ballot paper" before voting for him.

"You may only have lent us your vote, you may not think of yourself as a natural Tory (Conservative) ... you may hope to return to Labour next time round, and if that is the case, I am humbled that you have put your trust in me," he said.

The dent that the Conservatives made in Labour's so-called Red Wall across industrial areas of central and northern England came as voters favoured leaving the European Union and rejected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's ambiguous stance on the issue.

"We have won votes and the trust of people who have never voted Conservative before," Johnson said. "Those people want change. We cannot, must not, must not let them down."


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