UK PM to visit Germany & France to lay out Brexit roadmap

London, July 20: British Prime Minister Theresa May will head to Berlin on Wednesday (July 20) and then follow it up with a visit to Paris a day later to chalk out the roadmap for her country's departure from the European Union (EU), AFP reported. [What is Brexit?]

The people of the UK favoured an exit from the EU, a union of 28 countries (including the UK), in a close referendum on June 23. The episode, however, had a huge fallout with the incumbent prime minister David Cameron deciding to give way under pressure and a number of top leaders of the country also facing challenges. Finally, it was May who took over as the successor to Cameron on July 13 to become the second prime minister of the UK after the late 'iron lady'---Margaret Thatcher. [Indian-origin MP appointed junior minister in Theresa May's cabinet]

May, in her first foreign visit since taking over the reins, will straightaway engage in laying out the groundwork for Brexit in talks with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, the heads of government of two big European powers---Germany and France, respectively, the AFP added.

The PM's office said she would try to build a personal rapport and explain that her government needed time to lay out its "objectives for Britain's divorce from Brussels", the AFP report added.

"I am determined that Britain will make a success of leaving the European Union and that's why I have decided to visit Berlin and Paris so soon after taking office," May said in a statement.

"I do not underestimate the challenge of negotiating our exit from the EU and I firmly believe that being able to talk frankly and openly about the issues we face will be an important part of a successful negotiation."

"I also want to deliver a very clear message about the importance we attach to our bilateral relationship with our European partners, not just now but also when we have left the EU," it said.

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