France doesn’t want to see new Brexit delay, PM Johnson was ‘underestimated’ – Macron

President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France does not want to see Britain’s departure from the EU delayed beyond October 31 now that a divorce agreement has been reached, AFP reports.

“I think the October 31 date should be respected. I don’t think that new deadlines should be given. We need to end these negotiations and get on negotiating the future relationship,” the French president said.

Macron also said after an EU summit in Brussels that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who clinched a Brexit deal with the EU on Thursday, had been underestimated.

“He may be a colorful character sometimes but we all are at times. He’s got a temper, but he’s a leader with a real strategic vision. Those who didn’t take him seriously were wrong,” Reuters quoted Macron as saying.