‘My job here is hell,’ EU’s Juncker laments, as Brexit deadlock looms large

In the latest frustrated comment from the EU as Brexit dealings crumble, European Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker said his job in Brussels was “hell.” The quip came after another top EU official spoke of a hell for Brexiteers.

The Devil’s domain was first mentioned by EU Council president Donald Tusk, when he lambasted the UK authorities over their attempts to change the already negotiated withdrawal agreement with the bloc.

“I have been wondering what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan to deliver it safely,” Tusk said.

Juncker was next to appear before the cameras in Brussels on Wednesday. The fun-loving EC chief, who was previously filmed mocking UK PM Theresa May’s dancing moves, just couldn’t let such a fiery comment as Tusk’s lie.

“I’m less Catholic than my good friend Donald. He strongly believes in heaven and by opposite in hell. I believe in heaven and I’ve never seen hell, apart from the time I was doing my job here. It’s hell,” he confessed.

What Juncker was doing as part of his job in Brussels was delivering a joint message to London together with Ireland’s Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, saying that the so-called Irish backstop in any Brexit deal won’t be renegotiated.

“Brexit is not a bilateral question between the Republic of Ireland and the UK… It’s a European issue and that’s why we cannot accept the idea that the withdrawal agreement could be reopened,” Juncker said, adding that the backstop was part of the November agreement.

As for May, who is to arrive in Brussels for talks on Thursday in an attempt to formulate “alternative arrangements” on the contentious backstop, “she knows that the Commission isn’t prepared to reopen the issue,” Juncker stressed.

The backstop is a safety net to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in case no Brexit trade deal is achieved between the UK and the EU. Varadkar, for his part, insisted that “Ireland is increasingly prepared for a no-deal.”

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