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We must still strive for orderly Brexit: Angela Merkel

Reuters
Berlin, GermanyUpdated: Jan 16, 2019, 03:46 PM IST
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Angela Merkel, the only German chancellor born after WWII and the only one to have grown up in the country's communist east until the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification, was well aware of her country's tangled history.  Photograph:(AFP)

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'We will ofcourse try to find an orderly solution but we are also prepared for the scenario that there may not be an orderly solution,' Merkel said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that it was necessary to keep trying to secure an orderly Brexit but she stressed that Germany was prepared if Britain did end up exiting the European Union in a disorderly fashion.

She said she regretted that the British parliament had rejected a Brexit deal negotiated with the European Union and said British Prime Minister Theresa May needed to say how Britain would proceed.

"We think now it is up to the British side," Merkel said. "We want to keep damage to a minimum, and there will be damage with the departure of Britain."

"We will of course try to find an orderly solution but we are also prepared for the scenario that there may not be an orderly solution," Merkel added.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier warned on Wednesday that the British Parliament's overwhelming rejection of a negotiated Brexit deal increases the risk that Britain will crash out of the European Union without an agreement.