Backstage at Brexit summit: Huddles, deals, delicate dance

European Union flags flap in the wind outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, April 10, 2019. European Union leaders meet Wednesday in Brussels for an emergency summit to discuss a new Brexit extension. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly session of Prime Ministers Questions at the House of Commons, in London, Wednesday, April 10, 2019. Just days away from a potentially calamitous no-deal Brexit, European Union leaders meet Wednesday to discuss granting the United Kingdom a new delay — possibly of up to a year — to its departure from the bloc. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

BRUSSELS – A daylong diplomatic ballet is playing out in the European Quarter of Brussels for another high-stakes Brexit summit.

It will culminate in a closed-door dinner where presidents and prime ministers will talk for hours and hours until no one disagrees anymore. And only then will British Prime Minister Theresa May find out when Brexit will finally happen .

But first, the Dutch prime minister is playing messenger between ally May and harder-line EU leaders. The French and German leaders are having their own huddle. A mini-club of North Sea countries is gathering elsewhere.

It is all part of the backdoor politicking that's the only way the EU can ever come to a consensus. It's baffling to outsiders — but the EU has elevated it into an art.

Antisemitism Exposed