LONDON �� U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's government accused some European Union countries of wanting Britain to "fail" as her team stepped up the attack on the bloc's leaders in a push for votes in the upcoming election.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd claimed that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker held "very hostile" briefings against May after an April 26 London dinner meeting to influence voters. She criticized the timing of reports _ that the EU wants to stop May from leading talks on the U.K.'s withdrawal from the EU and that the U.K. will face a $110 billion exit bill _ in the weeks before the June 8 election.
"Why would Jean-Claude Juncker and his team have done such a very hostile approach?" Rudd said Sunday in an interview BBC. "Would it not be possible to hold onto your aggression, perhaps your opening negotiating salvos, during an election period?"
May's Conservatives are campaigning to return to power with a bigger parliamentary majority. She's stressing her "strong and stable" personal leadership as the country faces the complex task of negotiating withdrawal from the EU. Conservative strategists worry that voters won't turn out for May because she's almost 20 points ahead of her main Labour Party rivals in opinion polls and triumphed in British local elections last week.
Conservatives think May's focus on the EU's role in the U.K. election will play well with voters. However, there is a risk that these clashes could damage relations between EU and U.K. officials begin. EU President Donald Tusk on Thursday appealed for calm.
The argument dates back to an April 30 report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper that Juncker left May's dinner shocked about unrealistic expectations for Brexit, claiming she was living in another galaxy.
In the BBC interview, Rudd said these "very unhelpful" comments showed that the EU did want to "meddle" in the U.K. election. "It seems extraordinary to me that they would launch it during an election period," she said.
Rudd's Cabinet colleague, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, said he believed the briefings were deliberately designed to damage May's chances of being re-elected. Some EU countries "appear to think that for the EU to survive, Britain must fail," Hunt said on BBC.
