How EU leaders have reacted to the extension

EU leaders have also had their say on the Brexit extension.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he had pushed against a long extension "for the collective good".



"It is true that the majority was more in favour of a very long extension," he said. "But it was not logical in my view, and above all, it was neither good for us, nor for the British people."

(AFP)

He added: "I think we delivered the best possible compromise. First because it was the one to preserve the unity of the 27.



"Second because we addressed the request from the UK to get more time to deliver a deal on the basis of the withdrawal agreement negotiated a few months ago.



"And third because thanks to this agreement we preserve the well-functioning of the European Union."



German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who backed a longer extension, said she supported the effort to secure an orderly Brexit.

(REUTERS) She said: "In the face of the many problems the world is facing today, it means a lot to us. She said: "In the face of the many problems the world is facing today, it means a lot to us.



"And we talked about this tonight that we, as Europeans, send out a signal that even if such a difficult discussion comes up, we are nevertheless capable of ensuring that this withdrawal is an orderly one."



She added: "In my eyes it's important now that the European Union does not exert pressure here on Great Britain. We have very clear demands and expectations.



"We have to have ways and means to ensure that the withdrawal agreement is adhered to. It's not important whether it's that date or another one."

(AP)

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the European Union "is not a prison (and) nobody has to stay, but it's also a home and we're not going to kick anybody out either".



Asked if he thought the extension was long enough, he said: "I really hope so. The European Union is imperfect, we took several hours here to make a decision, there were different views, we had to bounce things around for five or six hours this evening but we did make a decision.



"It's three years since the referendum now and we really think it's time for the United Kingdom to make a decision, so we're giving them a very long period of time now to make a decision."



Mr Varadkar said there was "genuine concern" about the UK remaining in the EU for an extended period of time while it intends to leave in case it disrupts EU business.



"Quite frankly that is already the case, with Ukip and (Nigel) Farage," he added.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned that a no-deal Brexit was not off the table.



He tweeted: "EUCO does not want a disorderly exit, but it is true that it is not ruled out.



"The ball is now in the court of the British Parliament."



Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the delay gave time to overcome the "crisis" in the Commons.



"We moved away the risk of no-deal Brexit for a several months," he tweeted.

"It gives a chance to overcome the ratification crisis in UK. It is now up to UK to take this opportunity."

Lars Lokke Rasmussen, prime minister of Denmark, said it was down to the UK to find solutions to the Brexit impasse.



He tweeted: "One more chance for the UK. Managed to avoid a NoDealBrexit tonight. New deadline 31.10. Up to the UK to find solutions."



Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila tweeted: "This mess has been going on for three years. Lets hope prime minister May and the opposition will find consensus."



Malta's prime minister Joseph Muscat said the 31 October deadline was "sensible".



He tweeted: "A Brexit extension until 31 October is sensible since it gives time to UK to finally choose its way. The review in June will allow EUCO to take stock of the situation."