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Theresa May triggers Brexit process

The EU authorities have received UK’s Article 50 letter

© EPA/ANDY RAIN

LONDON/BRUSSELS, March 29. /TASS/. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May briefed the European Union authorities on triggering the Brexit process.

The Article 50 letter. #Brexit pic.twitter.com/SO5R5BTvhw
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) 29 March 2017

According to BBC, UK ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow has handed May’s letter over to European Council President Donald Tusk. In this connection, Tusk wrote on Twitter that "after nine months the UK has delivered."

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Theresa May has called Brexit "a historic moment from which there can be no turning back."

"In accordance with the wishes of the people, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union," she said.

This step, taken in accordance with Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, will pave the way for the two-year Brexit negotiations between London and Brussels.

The article will be implemented for the first time in the history of the European Union, the talks are expected to begin no earlier than in May.

'No turning back'

The start of the Brexit process is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back, May said in a statement to the House of Commons.

"This is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back. Britain is leaving the European Union. We are going to make our own decisions and our own laws," May said. "We are going to take control of the things that matter most to us. And we are going to take this opportunity to build a stronger, fairer Britain - a country that our children and grandchildren are proud to call home," she added.

The British prime minister also said that the UK government would do everything possible "to help the European Union prosper and succeed." London has "a plan for a new deep and special partnership between Britain and the European Union," May noted. "We will pursue a bold and ambitious free trade agreement with the European Union that allows for the freest possible trade in goods and services between Britain and the EU’s member states; that gives British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate within European markets; and that lets European businesses do the same in Britain," the British prime minister stated.

She also said that the UK government expected that "the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will see a significant increase in their decision-making power as a result of this process."

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