EU leaders agree on ‘Brexit’ deal—Lithuania president
Andrzej Duda, President of Poland, right, and Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania, sit on the podium at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. AP Photo
BRUSSELS, Belgium—EU leaders on Friday agreed on a deal on British Prime Minister David Cameron’s controversial reform demands to keep his country in the EU, Lithuania’s president said.
“Agreement #UKinEU done. Drama over,” Dalia Grybauskaite tweeted minutes after a summit dinner began following more than 30 hours of tense talks.
READ: Cameron, EU leaders still have ‘lot to do’ to reach deal
Cameron’s 27 counterparts had dug in their heels at the meeting, leading to marathon negotiations over changes that he wants to put before the British public in a referendum in June.
He had warned that he could walk away from the talks if he did not get the deal he wanted, possibly leading to him campaigning for a so-called “Brexit” from the 28-nation bloc in the referendum.
But after a day of repeated delays and frantic meetings, EU president Donald Tusk and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker came up with a draft deal with compromises on the key issues.
READ: Britain’s future, migrant split reveal growing EU divide
A senior EU official said Juncker and Tusk’s draft was “hopefully a final proposal which has just been put on the dinner table.
“They believe this is a very fair and balanced proposal and it has a good chance to get approval by all 28,” the source said just before the Lithuanian president’s announcement.
