There can be no soft Brexit between the United Kingdom and the European Union and there should not be any illusion about it. Before the referendum even took place in June last year, we suggested that the risks from an exit by the United Kingdom are different for the UK and the European Union. For the UK, risks are largely economical, whereas for the European Union it is an existential one. No country has ever left the European Union and the United Kingdom is only aspiring to become the first. The EU cannot allow that exit to be a successful one as it could be an example for other countries to leave the European Union.

After receiving the Brexit letter from the UK, the European Council President Donald Tusk said with tears in his eyes that he is already missing Britain but need to take steps for damage control. That really means what we said earlier that the EU needs to take up steps so that no other economy aspires to leave.

If you still hope for a soft Brexit, which we doubt that anybody knows what it is, then you probably should look at the actions taken by the European Union since receiving the letter from Downing Street.

• Britain is being handed over bills that it needs to clear before the negotiations about the exit agreement even begin.
• The European Union started to attack the UK by supporting the Spanish claims on the Gibraltar.
• In addition to that, the members of the European Union are working to formally end the euro settlement mechanism in London and move it places within the continent.
• Leaked comments from a meeting between the Prime Minister Theresa May and the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker show the coldness between the two and to the possibility that there may not be any deal at all.
• Recently, the European Union has confirmed that a United Ireland will automatically be an EU member thus provoking Northern Ireland to break away from the United Kingdom.

Actions do speak louder than words and crying, and actions so far do not create any illusion of a possible soft Brexit.