Brexit is just one front in Europe’s battle for its soul | Timothy Garton Ash

Whether it’s taking on Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Germany’s AfD or Italy’s Matteo Salvini, this is one and the same struggle

John Bull has been having a breakdown, and he’s getting worse, so now his housemates gather in the kitchen to decide what to do about him. Feisty Emmanuel from France thinks John is messing up all their lives, and they should kick him out of the house. After all, that bull-necked English egotist said he wanted to leave three years ago. Living up to her nickname Mutti, Angela is much more sympathetic. Donald, who hails from Poland, says John should be given “time and space” to sort himself out. Watch the next episode of Brexit, Europe’s most-viewed soap opera, this Wednesday evening.

They have never followed UK politics more closely. ‘It's better than anything on Netflix,' says Aleksander Kwaśniewski

If a long extension leaves us stuck in the EU we should be as difficult as possible. We could veto any increase in the budget, obstruct the putative EU army and block Mr Macron’s integrationist schemes.

Related: Brexit: May flying to Berlin and Paris in bid to persuade EU to agree to article 50 extension - live news

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