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The ex-European Commission president insisted eurocrats shouldn’t act in the “spirit of revenge” for our historical decision to quit the Brussels project. Mr Juncker’s call for calm comes at a time when heated tensions between the EU and UK risk sparking a diplomatic crisis. In recent months, his successor Ursula von der Leyen has threatened to blockade shipments of Covid vaccines headed for our shores and a trade war over Brexit rules for Northern Ireland.
Mr Juncker said: “British citizens have taken the historical decision to step away from European integration. That has been done, we have to respect that decision.
“And, frankly, we need a relationship with Britain.”
The Luxembourger recalled his pitch for a “fair deal” for the UK, adding: “I think these two entities, Britain on the one side and the European Union on the other side, don’t have the right to forget they have a common history.”
Mr Juncker, who served as European Commission president between 2014-2019, has previously called for tensions between Brussels and London to be cooled.
In March, he said the bloc would be foolish to trigger a vaccine war with Britain – and called on bosses to back down.
He said: “I don’t think that this is the right way.
“We have to pull back from a vaccine war.
“Nobody in Britain, nobody in Europe understands why we are witnessing such a stupid vaccines war.
“We are not in a war, and we are not enemies. We are allies.”
Mr Juncker branded EU threats to block shipments of jabs as “stupid” and warned of “major reputational damage” to the bloc.
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The move comes after Brexit minister Lord Frost proposed extending the grace period on EU red tape to protect the NI peace process.
He told MPs: “I still hold out some hope they might agree.”
One EU insider told Express.co.uk: “We’re obviously not against it.”
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