Tusk criticises UK remarks comparing EU to Soviet Union

The European Council President Donald Tusk criticised what he deemed "insulting" comments from the British Foreign Secretary who said the European Union was similar to the Soviet Union and urged London to accept a Brexit deal that would keep the UK more aligned with the bloc.

Tusk denounced the comments that came from British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who claimed the EU’s negotiating stance on Brexit was similar to the Soviet Union’s refusal to let states secede.

"Comparing the European Union to the Soviet Union is as unwise as it is insulting," Tusk said. "As the president of the European Council and someone who spent half of my life in the Soviet bloc, I know what I'm talking about."

"Unacceptable remarks that raise the temperature will achieve nothing except wasting more time. What needs to be done is maximum progress by the October European Council."

Tusk also told reporters: "The EU wants a relationship with the UK that is as close and special as possible," Tusk said, according to Bloomberg. "From the very beginning, the EU offer has been not just a Canada deal, but a Canada plus plus plus deal. Much further-reaching on trade, on internal security and on foreign policy cooperation."

Tusk addressed reporters and said: "Emotional arguments that stress the issue of dignity sound attractive but they do not facilitate agreement. Every actor in this process has their dignity and confrontation in this field will not lead to anything good.

"No one can expect that because of Brexit, the EU will give up its fundamental values and key interests.”

EU officials were earlier reported by Reuters to suggest that new British proposals for avoiding extensive border checks in Ireland after Brexit are "a step in the right direction" and "make finding a compromise possible".