well it's better than a white flag

When you're talking expense remember the USSR had an internal currency that could only be spent in the USSR.

We're talking Russian Federation here...

BTW, to our frequent EU posters, how's negotiations with the UK going, has that french negotiator pushed that crooked "trade deal" down the UK's throat yet or are they not having any of it?

Looks like time is running out

Signs are pointing to a Hard Brexit atm. Would definitely be interesting to see if the dire predictions for this scenario turn out to be true, or overblowm.

Definitely interesting yes, however if I'd be EU's chief negotiator I'd be working towards a deal with the British instead of putting my fist on the table. I honestly feel the EU is asking too much like continued access to the UK's fishing waters and the Northern Ireland border issue

I mean, they kind of have to. If they make a soft deal with the United Kingdom then it shows people that leaving is easy. And they also have such a huge upper hand in negotiations that they can strong-arm the UK. So there's really no downside to them softening to make a better deal.

I depends on how you look at it. If it comes to a no-deal brexit, the UK's perspective is that they're one country with severed trade links but the EU is 25 odd countries that have all lost trade links with the UK.

Also the UK is one of the economically stronger (northern) countries, thus a very important trade partner for the EU.

The Brits are surely feeling confident and are not pushed around by the EU

I dont think they have a huge upper hand. Upper hand for sure, but not by that much. The dominant people in the British government have always favored a hard brexit, and covid gives them the perfect cover to go through with it, since they can now blame the economic hardship that might come from it on the pandemic.

In general, I'm not sure if this "we cannot make leaving the EU too easy" is a convincing argument. EU politicians are constantly emphasizing that the EU is more than just an economic union, that it is a community of shared values. Proponents of the EU want an "ever closer union", they see it as a project whose arc of history inevitably leads toward "United States of Europe". In this sense, is it really for the better of the EU when countries which dont share those values and do not stand behind the "project" are economically blackmailed into staying in the club although they dont identify with it, although their heart is not in it?

They don't have to though, they're choosing to. It's no secret that the UK has been eurosceptic for a long time and not truly convinced with the european "project", hence why the UK has been given a string of special arrangements over the years. I truely believe that the EU will get closer to it's goals without the UK being a part of it, in that instance, it makes no sense to damage your own economies over what is essentially trivialities. First off because the vast majority of the landlocked EU nations are far less eurosceptic than the UK, and second off because if you take a hard-line stance against anyone leaving, you're sending out the message that your "project" isn't as strong as first believed.

I'm a true believer in if your ideals and ideas are the best ones, you shouldn't need strong-arm tactics to convince people in them.

Amen!