River cruise EU chiefs sail on without Britain

EU leaders insisted Friday they were all in the "the same boat" as they discussed the Brexit crisis over lunch aboard a cruise ship on the River Danube at the Bratislava summit.
The 27 leaders meeting without British Prime Minister Theresa May spent two hours drifting up and down the famed waterway while they sipped Slovakian white wine.
They had to alter their journey plan after low water levels forced them to cancel a planned stop at an art museum, but said their own attempts to plot a course for the EU were on track.
"Bratislava Summit was so far a straightforward discussion of options for EU to move ahead. We are all on the same boat, literally," Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in a post-lunch tweet.
The boat trip came during more formal talks on the future course of the EU at the imposing Bratislava Castle, on a high bluff overlooking the river.
Perhaps appropriately for a union in which Berlin calls the shots, Slovak authorities rented a German-flagged luxury boat, the Regina Danubia for the river journey.
Built in 1992, it is described as a "floating festive and congress hall on the Danube", and is 70 metres (230 feet) long and 11 metres wide, with a capacity of 400 passengers.
Aboard, the leaders dined in style, with the food accompanied by the finest offerings from Slovakia's vineyards.
"That's important for me because Slovak white wine is of world quality, and we'll be able to present ourselves in this manner," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico told reporters.
Tomas Prouza, the Europe minister for the Czech republic, tweeted a picture of the leaders at the start of the meal, seated at a long table covered in a white cloth. Each had a microphone in front of them, and a bread roll at their side.
The rest of the river was meanwhile shut off to the public, with the only other vessels on the water being rubber dinghies full of elite frogmen from the Slovakian security forces.
The luxury river cruise came despite a warning from EU President Donald Tusk recently that "too often European elites seem detached from reality".
It was not all plain sailing on the Danube, with the highlight of the cruise -- a visit to the Dutch-founded Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Cunovo close to the border between Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary -- called off.
"Due to the extremely low water level of the Danube River, we won't be able to take a short break at the Danubiana," Fico said.
"Instead, the ship will turn around there, and we'll continue by sailing back to Bratislava."
Pavel Machava, of the Slovak Water Management Enterprise, said they had been lucky to sail at all, with cruising on the river only restored at 7:00 am local time.    – AFP

River cruise EU chiefs sail on without Britain

EU leaders insisted Friday they were all in the the same boat as they discussed the Brexit crisis over lunch aboard a cruise ship on the River Danube at the Bratislava summit. The 27 leaders meeting without British Prime Minister Theresa May spent two hours drifting up and down the famed waterway while they sipped Slovakian white wine. They had to alter their journey plan after low water levels forced them to cancel a planned stop at an art museum, but said their own attempts to plot a course for the EU were on track. Bratislava Summit was so far a straightforward discussion of options for EU to move ahead. We are all on the same boat, literally, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in a post-lunch tweet. The boat trip came during more formal talks on the future course of the EU at the imposing Bratislava Castle, on a high bluff overlooking the river. Perhaps appropriately for a union in which Berlin calls the shots, Slovak authorities rented a German-flagged luxury boat, the Regina Danubia for the river journey. Built in 1992, it is described as a floating festive and congress hall on the Danube, and is 70 metres (230 feet) long and 11 metres wide, with a capacity of 400 passengers. Aboard, the leaders dined in style, with the food accompanied by the finest offerings from Slovakias vineyards. Thats important for me because Slovak white wine is of world quality, and well be able to present ourselves in this manner, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico told reporters. Tomas Prouza, the Europe minister for the Czech republic, tweeted a picture of the leaders at the start of the meal, seated at a long table covered in a white cloth. Each had a microphone in front of them, and a bread roll at their side. The rest of the river was meanwhile shut off to the public, with the only other vessels on the water being rubber dinghies full of elite frogmen from the Slovakian security forces. The luxury river cruise came despite a warning from EU President Donald Tusk recently that too often European elites seem detached from reality. It was not all plain sailing on the Danube, with the highlight of the cruise -- a visit to the Dutch-founded Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Cunovo close to the border between Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary -- called off. Due to the extremely low water level of the Danube River, we wont be able to take a short break at the Danubiana, Fico said. Instead, the ship will turn around there, and well continue by sailing back to Bratislava. Pavel Machava, of the Slovak Water Management Enterprise, said they had been lucky to sail at all, with cruising on the river only restored at 7:00 am local time. AFP