BRITAIN has become a laughing stock among European leaders who are lining up to criticise the country’s vote for Brexit, according to a German newspaper.
The “schadenfreude” towards the British public and "politically dead" Theresa May is at all time high now, according to Welt newspaper.
But the leading German publication warned that the ill will towards the UK over its exit from the European Union is actually damaging Europe and is so “senseless” it must stop.
The newspaper writes: “Rolling your eyes at the British has turned into a competition in Europe. Since a narrow majority in the UK has decided to leave the European Union - the most successful alliance that this continent has ever seen - the islanders are considered a hopeless case.
“The unfortunate and futile attempts of their Prime Minister Theresa May to implement the will of the majority seem to confirm the general observation: these Brits are crazy."
Citing the in-fighting among the British cabinet, Welt paints Mrs May as a tragic figure battling against “Chaos-Brexit” which they suggest is “entertaining in a voyeuristic way”.
It adds: “May's flaxen-haired Foreign Minister is now also regarded as an 'international joke' in Great Britain. Shortly before the big Brexit speech of the boss, Boris Johnson stabbed her in her back and thwarted the desperate attempt to finally demonstrate unity in advance.”
The newspaper also says Europe was stunned after former chancellor of the exchequer George Osbourne allegedly said he would not rest until the Prime Minister was "chopped up in bags in my freezer".
These incidents, they claim, are providing endless reasons for Europeans to laugh at the way the UK Government is handling Brexit.
Europeans are also finding it funny that Britain is trying to recreate the worldwide importance of the British empire.
Welt adds: “It is endless: the blown election, the negligent loss of time, the disunion, the illusion of Empire 2.0, the confused opposition, the political vacuum, the countless unanswered questions about Brexit itself and the future thereafter.
“The Tory Party Congress, which promises the next surprise and is already branded a 'zombie' event. In London there are plenty of things that are eye-roll worthy.”
The newspaper said Mrs May’s speech in Florence last month was seen, among Europeans, as not providing a breakthrough on her Brexit plans.
However, the publication said that EU leaders' self righteous attitude is counterproductive.
It warns: “For the future of the continent, however, this ill-concealed schadenfreude which accompanies Brexit on the other side of the English Channel is devastating.
“An isolated Great Britain, which can only stay economically afloat by becoming a money-laundering tax oasis, and politically afloat by being a liege of Donald Trump, is not in the interest of anyone.
“However, instead of helping the - legendarily difficult and self-destructive - partner out of this crisis, instead of tackling Brexit as a European problem and not as a British one, instead of trying to find solutions and ways out with measures and united forces - the Europeans have delegated Brexit to Brussels officials and otherwise just roll their eyes.
“In the Brexit negotiations, the British chances of a compromise have decreased further. Because instead of tackling things themselves and getting their own hands dirty, the European heads of state are hiding behind the argument that they did not want to be divided.
“This serves as a grand excuse for the skewed construct of letting the British government negotiate with Brussels bureaucrats.”
Welt says that the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier would be well advised to take a more compassionate approach to negotiations.
The newspaper adds: “Brussels and the European leaders would do well to quit the British-bashing and to exercise unfamiliar humility.
“It would perhaps be clear to them that the British are indeed crazy, but the Europeans are as well. Therefore we actually fit really well together.”