BRUSSELS – European Union leader Charles Michel used the virtual pulpit of the U.N. General Assembly on Friday to lash out at Britain for its threats to renege on parts of the withdrawal treaty it signed with the EU and warned that the 27-nation bloc won't back down in the final weeks of acrimonious talks on a free-trade deal.
Michel made unmistakable references to the United Kingdom when he said that “respect for treaties, a basic principle of international law, comes to be considered optional even by those who, until recently, were its historical guarantors."“All this in the name of partisan interests." he said in reference to the government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.