EU's Tusk says Brexit delay to Jan.31 "may be the last one"

The outgoing European Union chairman, Donald Tusk, said on Tuesday the bloc formally approved delaying Brexit to the end of January, 2020.

"The EU27 has formally adopted the extension. It may be the last one. Please make the best use of this time," he said on Twitter.

Tusk, who will leave after five years at the end of November his job as the European Council president - or chairman of EU national leaders' talks - has also never shied away from making clear he would want Britain to stay in the bloc.

"I also want to say goodbye to you as my mission here is coming to an end. I will keep my fingers crossed for you," Tusk added.

The U.K. was set to leave the EU on Oct. 31 but a new extension granted by the bloc has furthered the deadline to Jan. 31, 2020. The "flextension" can be cut short if Britain can ratify the revised deal of Johnson on a date earlier than the deadline.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had insisted that the U.K. would leave the EU on Oct. 31, had to ask for an extension after failing in a vote that would fast-track the legislation of his deal last week.

The EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill passed the first stage of legislative process last week but the process was paused by Johnson when he failed to receive approval on a timetable to make it law before the deadline of Oct. 31.

On Tuesday, the House of Commons is set to vote a bill that will legislate an early general election in early December.

The UK decided to leave the union in a 2016 referendum.