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Across the European media there was relief that a deal had finally been reached and, in some places, hope that it would mark a high tide in Brexit sentiment.
France’s Le Monde presented the deal as a political victory for Boris Johnson, whom it described as an “unsinkable political machine.”
“His hair is more chaotic than ever, he looks wild in every appearance, and he seems permanently overwhelmed by events,” the newspaper said. “But by striking a trade deal with the European Union on December 24, the British prime minister has once again demonstrated the usefulness of pretending to be a madman.”
El Mundo de España was one of many who welcomed the deal, despite criticism that it said will surely follow closer scrutiny.
“The fine print remains to be seen, it will surely not satisfy anyone completely, but the divorce will be amicably consummated after countless disagreements. And that is great news, ”El Mundo said.
Johnson’s triumphant presentation of the deal was noted by El País, which noted that it was already bracing itself for criticism from those who thought the deal was going too far, and others worried that it would not go far enough.
Johnson’s propaganda efforts to extol his results can be explained not only by his character and what is personally at stake for him, which is about everything, but also because he needs to break the resistance of ultra-Brexiteers and to cover territorial criticisms such as those that have already been unleashed from Scotland ”.
But the German business daily Handelsblatt argued that the Christmas Eve deal “would mark the end of the Brexit movement” in the UK.
With Britain’s departure from the EU in full, the ideological momentum of anti-European sentiment would dissipate and the practical realities of life at the gates of the bloc would lead to an organic deepening of ties. “From now on, the pendulum will tilt the other way,” wrote his London correspondent Carsten Volkery.
“In the coming years, relations between Britain and the EU are likely to become increasingly close. Because, after all, the British Isles are still stuck just 30 kilometers from France, and negotiations between neighbors never really end. Ask Switzerland, ”he added.
