Britain and the European Union are headed for a hard Brexit, the prime minister of Bulgaria said today in Brussels before warning the EU was not ready for a bitter divorce from the UK.

Boyko Borissov broke ranks with the remaining 27 member states and admitted that the EU could not afford an acrimonious split with Britain.

“Regrettably, this possibility is more and more mentioned, that there would be no agreement. I am not saying it on behalf of the EU or of our presidency, and I don’t want to be misunderstood. But this is my sentiment,” Mr Borissov told the EurActiv website.

The EU has maintained a painstakingly constructed façade of unity in the face of Brexit. Mr Borissov’s straight-talking is particularly embarrassing because Bulgaria will soon take the rotating presidency of the EU, meaning it will chair Brexit discussions among the EU-27 from 1 January.

Speaking before a Brussels summit where Theresa May met European Council president Donald Tusk for Brexit talks, Mr Borissov said: “If I were to say we are ready, it would be overestimating ourselves. If you ask whatever prime minister or chancellor here, they will tell you they are not ready.”

The burly premier, a former bodyguard of Bulgaria’s last communist leader, added: "We have a lot on our plate: the Eastern Partnership [with six non-EU countries], Western Balkans, Brexit, the next European long-term budget, European security and defence, cybersecurity. Many themes.”