"I just contacted Boris Johnson and discussed the situation around Brexit. I wished him success in his next steps in the UK House of Commons. We agreed to maintain close contact," Rutte wrote on Twitter.
Zojuist contact gehad met @BorisJohnson en de situatie rond #Brexit doorgesproken. Heb hem succes gewenst met de volgende stappen in het Britse Lagerhuis. We hebben afgesproken nauw contact te houden.
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) October 19, 2019
On Saturday, Johnson sent several letters to the European Council President Donald Tusk, in one of which he had asked the European Union to postpone Brexit until 23:00 GMT on January 31, 2020.
Tusk, in turn, confirmed the receipt and said he would proceed with consulting EU leaders. Earlier, European Council President said that such consultations may take up to several days. According to the existing regulation, the decision on granting a delay is made by the leaders of the remaining 27 countries in the EU based on the request of the outgoing country. It was previously planned that the UK would leave the bloc on October 31.
