Tearful MEPs hug the Ode to Joy, Nigel Farage triumphs before the cameras and Miss Belgium makes an appearance: intense day Wednesday in the European Parliament for the historic Brexit vote, which marks the departure of British elected officials.
“It’s not goodbye, it’s goodbye”: the message appears on the big screen in the room where the group of Social Democrats (S&D) organized a farewell ceremony in honor of the deputies of Labor.
In the gallery, the head of the parliamentary group, the Spanish Iratxe Garcia Perez, wiped away a few tears. The President of the Parliament, David Sassoli, tries to console her. And she was not the only one to wipe tears in the assembly.
Facing her, the Labor MEPs proudly brandish red and blue scarves, in the colors of the European and British flags: “United in diversity”.
Elected Rory Palmer had the idea. “I told myself that a football scarf could symbolize the special friendship between the United Kingdom and our European friends, which will continue after this sad week.”
Some cry, others kiss. The “standing ovations” follow one another. Everyone wants to believe that the UK will one day return.
Farage has fun: “I’ve been trying to lose my job for twenty years, it’s finally happening!”
“When we see that Brexit does not work, there may be an opportunity to come back,” hopes Richard Corbett, leader of Labor MEPs, who remembers being one of the first British parliamentary trainees .
Contrast striking with Nigel Farage, the strong man of Brexit, who, him, does not sulk his pleasure: “It’s been twenty years that I try to lose my job, it finally happens!” laughs the man who has been re-elected four times since his first mandate as MEP in 1999.
Wednesday evening, at 8:00 p.m., he will leave Brussels by Eurostar, direction London.
For his last press conference in Brussels, he is performing the show, all smiles in front of his supporters, who laugh at each good word.
“Here is the man of the moment, Mr. Brexit”, introduces his communication officer, who asks that there be in the room “neither applause, nor whistles”.
Farage, elected in an institution which he rejects but which offered him his notoriety, recognizes it: he liked to play the role of “bad guy”. And claims the theatricality of his character.
He hopes that the UK will become a competitor for the EU, which he wants to end, and that Brexit will lead to other departures, citing Poland, Denmark and Italy.
“Great drama”
Funny atmosphere in the huge European Parliament building, packed on this historic day. Dozens of cameras, from all over Europe, provide duplexes and interviews.
Here, the Italian Antonio Tajani, the former president of the hemicycle. There, the German Manfred Weber, short-lived candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, in great conversation with the Pole Donald Tusk, former head of the European Council.
“Everyone deeply regrets Brexit and it is felt in the corridors of the Parliament”, underlines the Luxembourg MEP Christophe Hansen (PPE).
“I lived through a lot of (farewell) speeches, which almost brought tears to our eyes. They are colleagues who believe in the EU. We feel that for them, it is really a great drama”, adds -t it.
Lunar appearance but noticed for Miss Belgium 2020
In the midst of this excitement, Miss Belgium 2020 makes an appearance as lunar as it is noticed, at the invitation of a Belgian elected representative who wants to explain the role of the European institutions to her.
Not many people, however, outside, except a couple of tourists who watch the Union Jack float for a few more hours, alongside the other flags of the EU.
They want to take a photo “while he’s there, because it’s very sad”.
The man looks distressed for a first photo. A second flash comes: thumbs up, this time he wears a broad smile.
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