Ahead of the UK's EU membership referendum Tusk warned of dire consequences should the UK vote to leave. After the vote he pursued a hard line on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union stating that the country's only real alternative to a "hard Brexit" is "no Brexit". In September 2018 he caused controversy after his official Instagram account posted an image of himself handing a slice of cake to British Prime Minister Theresa May, with the caption "A piece of cake, perhaps? Sorry, no cherries." Tusk has opposed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.