, Columnist
Emmanuel Macron's Bittersweet Brexit Victory
Boris Johnson is proving the French leader right on the dangers of letting the U.K. withdrawal drag on too long. But there’s no cause for celebration.
This is going to hurt.
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U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is barreling through Europe’s capitals with nothing concrete to say on Brexit beyond an unappealing offer of “new deal or no deal.” With Angela Merkel offering a response so cryptic that Germany was still explaining it a day later, France’s Emmanuel Macron was on hand to clarify: The European Union’s red lines, including upholding the single market and peace in Ireland, won’t shift.
The French president was also sending a more subtle message to his fellow EU leaders: I told you so.