Donald Tusk has claimed he is ‘furious’ about Brexit and branded it ‘one of the saddest moments’ of the 21st Century.
The EU chief revealed his anger at the UK vote in a speech in Dublin, warning it could smash the bloc.
Mr Tusk said dealing with the Brexit negotiations was monopolising most of his time and complained it threatened how the EU works.
The President of the European Council is in charge of coordinating EU leaders and will be a key player if Britain is to get a deal from the negotiations.
He has made repeated trips to Ireland to express solidarity with premier Leo Varadkar, handing Dublin an effective veto on the whole deal over the Irish border.
‘I don’t like Brexit. Actually, I believe Brexit is one of the saddest moments in twenty first-century European history. In fact, sometimes I am even furious about it,’ he said.
Last month Mr Tusk said EU leaders wanted to see positive momentum in the negotiations to finalise a solution avoiding a hard Irish border.
The leaders agreed to proceed to the next stage of Brexit talks surrounding a transitional deal between the UK and EU.
‘This year will be about Brexit, mainly, unfortunately. Instead of integration, I will be dealing with disintegration, in fact, some kind of damage control process, and my main focus will be to eliminate or at least reduce negative side effects of Brexit, with the Irish question, of course, in the centre of my attention,’ he added.
European and British negotiators are seeking a solution to Northern Ireland’s border with the Republic after Brexit.