British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, speaks with from left, French President Emmanuel Macron, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, June 22, 2017.
While the bloc has 15 military and training missions overseas, it does not match its economic might with the same military reach.Leaders in Brussels gave their governments three months to say whether they would be willing to join a coalition of European Union members to launch missions in the future and under what terms."We have set ourselves an ambitious timeline".
- Citizens' rights -May is set to brief European Union leaders on her Brexit plans over dinner on Thursday, before being kicked out while the remaining 27 discuss key issues including the future location of the EU's medicines and banking agencies, now based in Britain.
European Union officials have said they want Britain to guarantee their citizens' rights to live in Britain right up to the date of withdrawal, or Brexit as it is known.
But the proposals are likely to meet resistance in Brussels, which has already published its own formal proposals which would guarantee the rights enjoyed under EU law to any European expat resident in the United Kingdom on the date of Brexit.
Over after-dinner coffee on the first day of the European Union summit, May will address the other 27 leaders and describe the "principles" of her plan to provide early guarantees for some three million people living in Britain from other countries in the bloc, a British source said.
"So, who knows? You may say I'm a dreamer, but I am not the only one".
European Union officials said they had however asked her not to bring up the issue, saying all talks should be conducted by official European Union and British negotiators Michel Barnier and David Davis, and not by national leaders. "European countries that don't respect the rules have to draw all the political consequences", Macron said in an interview with eight European newspapers ahead of the summit.
For the president of Lithuania, which has more than 100,000 citizens living in Britain, keeping close ties after Brexit is vital.
Batman Actor Adam West Has Died, Twitter Salutes The Legend #RIP
His family made a statement on Facebook that West always saw himself as "The Bright Knight" and he will always be their hero. Actor Val Kilmer, who played Batman in a later movie, tweeted: "Ah dear Adam West ".
Earlier, EU president Donald Tusk had channelled former Beatle John Lennon as he said he hoped Brexit could be reversed - though others immediately poured cold water on the idea.
"I think it has not only confirmed the British view that we should leave, but it's also made some people who voted Remain think 'do we want to be part of this organisation?'".
"I would rather have a good deal for Ireland in time, than one that doesn't work for us in a shorter time period". "What we also need is certainty, for our companies in Belgium, in Europe".
Michel insisted Brexit negotiations should proceed without fanciful distractions.
Mr Tusk spoke of his "dream" that there could still be a U-turn on the Brexit decision before the expected date of withdrawal in March 2019.
One year on Britain is in a state of turmoil, while the EU27 has a new found confidence.
Meanwhile Macron and Merkel are expected to recommend another six-month rollover of tough economic sanctions imposed against Russian Federation in 2014 over the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed 10,000 lives.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said it had been a "sleeping princess" for decades, adding: "The princess is now awakening".
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