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Friday March 29, 2024

Barnier announces he has Covid-19

By Agencies
March 20, 2020

BRUSSELS: The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has the novel coronavirus that is sweeping the globe, he announced on Thursday.

“I tested positive yesterday for Covid-19. I’m as well as I can be, strictly confined to my home,” the 69-year-old Frenchman said in a video posted on his Twitter account. “I’m fine, morale is good,” the former French foreign minister added, speaking from France, one of the countries hardest hit by the virus.

“I naturally am following all instructions, as does my team. My message to all those who are affected or currently isolated: we will get through this together!”

Speaking in front of a well-stocked bookshelf and dressed in a sweater, Barnier expressed “solidarity” with “the many families affected by this disease” and “respect for all caregivers, who are doing a great job”.

Messages of support poured in from across Europe as well as Britain, where former UK Brexit minister Steve Barclay called for his speedy recovery. “You, your teams and all our European friends are in our thoughts at this difficult time. Courage!” Barclay wrote in French on Twitter.

Barnier’s boss, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, also sent best wishes, wishing him a swift recovery. The revelation came after the EU and Britain were forced to cancel this week’s post-Brexit trade talks because of the outbreak.

Downing Street insisted his illness would not force the transition period to be extended and the government remained committed to the December 31 deadline. A second round of talks on the post-Brexit relationship had been due to take place in London on Wednesday but they were scrapped because of the virus outbreak.

Discussions have been taking place between officials in Westminster and Brussels about how to proceed with future rounds, possibly through the use of video conference technology. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We of course send Michel Barnier our best wishes. In relation to Brexit negotiations... we have been in close conversation with the EU about looking at ways to continue progressing the negotiations. Both sides have shared their texts of potential legal agreements.”

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the government remained committed to securing a post-Brexit free trade deal with Brussels by the end of the year. “The negotiating texts have been exchanged. I would have thought in the 21st century there is scope for this to be done through teleconferencing and remotely - at least for the period it is required.

“I won’t go any further than the PM at this point. We don’t want to extend, we want to get this done. We don’t want any more uncertainty than we have already had from this process.”

Before Barnier’s statement, Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted he would not ask for an extension to the Brexit transition period despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.