“I have UK citizens living in my country, they are more than welcome to stay here”, the DP PM Xavier Bettel said in a CNN interview on 3 May, adding: “But they don’t know what will be their future in the EU. So, for me it is important to get clarification for them. And we’ve EU citizens living in the UK.”

Bettel then repeated that this topic needed clarification before any trade deals could be struck.

“If we firstly put trade before people, this is the principle we did not understand why Brexit happened and why we have populism in Europe,” he said.

Bettel added that he would put citizens first along with budgetary, money and governance issues.

The leader was tight-lipped when asked about UK prime minister Theresa May’s dinner with Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president.

But, he reiterated the EU stance on a unilateral Brexit, decided by the UK. “We’re 28 around the table, we need agreement between 28.”