European officials hit back at May's claim Brussels interfering in elections
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Thursday 04 May 2017
(ShareCast News) - The European Commission has hit back at British Prime Minister Theresa May's claims that Brussels was trying to interfere in the UK general election.
The commission's chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas put May's outburst down to "excitement".
"We are not naive. At the moment there's an election taking place in the UK. People get excited when we have elections. The election in the UK is mainly about Brexit," Schinas was cited by media as saying.
"We here in Brussels are extremely busy with our policy work. We have enough on our plate. So, in a nutshell, we are very busy. And we will not Brexitise our work."
"To put it in the words of an EU diplomat, the 30-minute slot that we are going to devote to Brexit per week, for this week it's up."
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani echoed the remarks on Thursday.
"No one is trying to influence the outcome the election campaign in the United Kingdom. It is better to have an interlocutor who is not constantly looking for votes because they have had the election, in order to work towards a good solution."
"If you have an election campaign, the rhetoric gets sharper and more robust. I don't think there is any question of influencing the campaign."
May's incredible outburst outside her official residence at Downing Street came after she had been to Queen Elizabeth to inform her of the dissolution of parliament ahead of the June 8 election.
"Britain's negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press," she said.
"The European commission's negotiating stance has hardened. Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials. All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election which will take place on 8 June."
May's comments were made shortly after the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, unveiled details of the EU's opening negotiating stance and followed the leaking of talks over dinner last week with commission President Jean-Claude Juncker who claimed May was "on a different galaxy" over the terms of Brexit.
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