Britain should wait until the EU implodes "into a great crisis” to renegotiate a Brexit talk, as leading European member-states head towards a dramatic “change in leadership”.
The European Union will find itself in the middle of a “great crisis” by June as it faces a decisive election in just a few months time. John Fisher Burns, from the New York Times, said that the EU could be a “different and new” organisation by the summer. He urged British politicians to wait until the EU establishment suffered a catastrophic loss in the European Parliament elections in May before they seal a Brexit trade deal.
Speaking on BBC’s Dateline, Mr Burns said: “I think we will muddle through Brexit. While we look for a solution ourselves, there is something else we need to look at and that is Europe itself.
“Many Europeans speak as though there is something immutable about the EU. But, the EU is in flux. It may well be in great crisis by the middle of the year.
“There is a surge in identity politics across Europe - not least in France, Germany and Italy.
“We could find a different, a new EU to negoigate with, compared to the one we have talked to recently.”
German journalist Thomas Kielinger, from Die Welt, surprised the BBC panel by agreeing with the pro-Brexit view.
Mr Kielinger said: “Europe is not in a very fine shape at the moment.
“It is not the point to re-enter Europe because Europe is in a crisis of their own.
“Brexit will happen one way or another but they should not rejoin Europe in this current form.”
Mr Burns then added that Britain will see “the EU recast by the elections in May”.
He said: “There will be a change in the attitude of leadership in France and Germany, and that presents a possibility for a renegoition months from now.”
The European elections will take place between May 23 and 26, less than two months after Britain's proposed exit date in March.
Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, has said that Italy and Poland could trigger a “European spring” that could break the dominant “Germany-France axis” at the election.
During a visit to Poland this week, Mr Salvini said that the elections could bring about a “renaissance of European values” and “lead us away from the one that is run by bureaucrats”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has since added his name to this alliance, adding that he “must fight” French President Emmanuel Macron.
