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1st LD: British ambassador hands Brexit letter to EU, process underway

Xinhua, March 29, 2017 Adjust font size:

British ambassador to the European Union (EU) on Wednesday handed the Brexit letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, officially triggering the two-year countdown to Britain's exit of the bloc after 44 years of membership.

"After nine months the UK has delivered. #Brexit," Tusk tweeted, hard on the heels of receiving the Brexit letter.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday signed the Article 50 notification letter, nine months after Britain voted to quit the EU by a narrow margin in a June referendum.

By triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, Britain and the EU is expected to have a two-year process in which the terms of exit will be negotiated. Unless both sides agree to extend the deadline for talks, Britain will leave on March 2019.

Article 50 refers to the formal procedure by which an EU member state notifies the European Council that it intends to leave the bloc. Enditem