Mr Verhofstadt continued to champion Britain returning to the EU despite the referendum (Image: Getty)
An ardent Remainer brutally mocked the anniversary of the UK leaving the bloc as he claimed to be discussing the possibility of “rejoining”.
Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian PM and a long-time critic of Brexit, marked the fourth anniversary of the UK’s exit from the EU with an image of him at a meeting with “British friends”. He tweeted: “Four years ago our British friends left the EU…
“Today some of them were back to discuss the disaster Brexit became and the prospects of rejoining!”
The likelihood of Britain rejoining the EU has become increasingly remote ever since the 2016 referendum. While polls suggest there is some support for the idea - with many Brits reversing their views in the aftermath of the vote - there are various legislative reasons why Mr Verhofstadt’s hope for “rejoining” is a far-fetched one.
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Last year saw 20,000 march in London calling for the UK to rejoin the EU, with 62 percent of Brits believing Brexit to be a failure according to a YouGov poll.
But both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have both ruled out the possibility of the UK rejoining.
Georg Riekeles, who was diplomatic adviser to the former EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and is now executive director of the European Policy Centre, has made it clear that even if there was the political will, there is no way the UK would be able to re-enter the bloc in the same way it had previously.
He told Euronews: “The EU is in an enlargement process now, not only about the Western Balkans, it's also about Ukraine, it's also about Moldova and potentially beyond.
“And that is in itself a very big challenge to the EU. I think current institutional political economic structures in the EU are not ready for this enlargement.”
The coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting shortage of oil have all made the EU closer and more interdependent, Euronews reported.
For instance, the EU borrowed money on behalf of the member states and distributed it in the form of grants and loans for the first time during the COVID pandemic. This would have gone against the UK’s disapproval of the term “ever-closer-Europe”.
Mr Verhofstadt previously provoked outrage after claiming that if the UK had not left the EU, Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine.
Fours years ago our British friends left the EU…
Today some of them were back to discuss the disaster Brexit became and the prospects of rejoining ! pic.twitter.com/eScI3se8Xk
— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) January 31, 2024
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The MEP told LBC that the “brutal invasion” by Russia “has nothing to do with the extension of NATO, it has nothing to do with… the European Union. It’s really an attempt by Putin to restore the old Soviet Union.”
He said that: “A united Europe, certainly on defense matters, would make an enormous difference.”
“I think maybe without Brexit maybe there was no invasion. I don’t know, I guess that he would see a far stronger and united Europe on the other side,” he added.
He reiterated his hope that Britain will one day rejoin the bloc and that Ukraine can also join “within five years”.
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Slamming Mr Verhofstadt, Nigel Farage wrote for the Telegraph: “I thought of the many millions of people who’d voted to take back control of our borders only to see them now abused daily as dinghies illegally cross the English Channel.
"I felt the frustration of the countless small business owners who voted for Brexit in the mistaken belief that, by now, they would be able to operate free of all EU regulations. And I mused on the opinion polls which show a growing number of people apparently saying they are ‘Bregretful’.
Mr Farage described Mr Verhofstadt as “aggressive, snarling, humourless, profoundly anti-British, and a believer in the creation of a full European super state – whether voters wanted it or not. The man is an out and out zealot, and this was proved yet again yesterday as he claimed, ludicrously, that the Ukraine war may well not have broken had the UK not left the European Union.”
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