The EU accidentally said 'good riddance' to the UK as it completed Brexit after an ambassador got it mixed up with 'good luck'

REUTERS / Francois Lenoir"Good riddance."

• In farewell speeches to the UK before Brexit, an EU ambassador told her UK counterpart: "Thank you, goodbye, and good riddance," according to a report by The Financial Times.
• Croatian ambassador to the EU Irena Andrassy intended to say "good luck" instead of "good riddance," diplomats claimed after the embarrassing gaffe.
• The speech on January 29 was made at the very last meeting between envoys while the UK was still a member state in the EU bloc-but UK diplomat Tim Barrow reportedly saw the funny side.
• Reacting to the story on Twitter, Andrassy used it as an opportunity to talk about the UK and the EU's shared sense of humour.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The EU's final words to the UK before the Brexit deadline last week were: "Thank you, goodbye, and good riddance," according to the Financial Times.

Diplomats told the FT that at the final official diplomatic meeting before the UK left the EU, the meeting's chairwoman, Croatian ambassador Irena Andrassy, mixed up "good riddance" with "good luck."

Luckily, the UK's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow took the whole thing in good humor, the FT reported.

Screenshot/YouTube

The diplomatic meeting last Wednesday came on the same day the UK wrapped up its business in the European Parliament as a member state of the EU 27 nations, just two days before the country was due to leave the bloc.

Andrassy reacted to the FT's report by tweeting a picture of herself with the UK ambassador, saying: "One more thing we share with our British friends - a good sense of humour ..."

Business Insider has approached both the Croatian ambassador's office and the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

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One more thing we share with our British friends - a good sense of humour...https://t.co/fqOInBwrYk pic.twitter.com/n456pscF4C

- Irena Andrassy (@IrenaAndrassy) February 4, 2020

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