Malta prime minister: 'I am beginning to believe that Brexit won't happen'

AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert

LONDON (AP) — Malta's prime minister says he is starting to believe that Britain's divorce from the European Union will not happen as doubts creep in among voters who backed the Brexit.

In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, Joseph Muscat said, "For the first time, I am beginning to believe that Brexit won't happen."

Muscat, whose country held the EU's presidency for the first half of 2017, said he sees signs that British public opinion is turning and he hopes a politician will offer a new referendum on the final Brexit deal.

In the interview published Thursday he said: "It would be good if a political leader in Great Britain would stand up with the courage to address this new situation and say: 'We will put the final Brexit deal to the people.'"