European Union leaders endorsed an agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union as well as a political declaration on future EU-UK relations, European Council President Donald Tusk announced after a special meeting in Brussels on Sunday.

The European Council calls on the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council to take the necessary steps to ensure that the agreement can enter into force on 30 March 2019, so as to provide for an orderly withdrawal, Tusk added.

Speaking to reporters before the summit, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that the UK’s withdrawal was not good for the Union, but that it would hurt the UK the most.

“My position on this has been clear for several years now. It’s a pity that this has occurred at all, but I think that this decision will have the most negative consequences for the United Kingdom itself, although it is not good for the European Union either,” the Croatian PM said.

He said that since this process was initiated, it should be conducted in an orderly fashion.

“That’s why this withdrawal agreement, the political declaration on future relations and this arrangement regarding Gibraltar and Northern Ireland, is the best possible way under the existing circumstances to regulate these issues,” he said.

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