May expects tough talks; EU alarmed at Brexit 'illusions

By William James and Alastair Macdonald LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May expects divorce talks with the European Union to be tough, she said on Sunday after EU leaders agreed stiff terms and voiced alarm at "illusions" in London that may wreck a deal. "What this shows, and what some of the other comments we've seen coming from European leaders shows, is that there are going to be times when these negotiations are going to be tough," May told the BBC a day after her EU peers agreed on demands they want met to avoid chaos when Britain leaves the bloc in 2019. At Saturday's Brussels summit of the 27 other EU states, EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker accused unnamed pro-Brexit figures of underestimating the complexity of the task and German Chancellor Angela Merkel repeated her concern that London still harbored "illusions" about negotiating a quick free-trade pact.
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