EU slaps down Johnson's opening gambit to renegotiate Brexit [View all]
Source: Portland Press Herald
BRUSSELS – EU leaders on Tuesday slapped down an effort by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to renegotiate Britain’s departure from the European Union, declaring that they were unwilling to agree to any deal that did not include ironclad assurances to ensure peace in Northern Ireland.
The rejection kicked off a nail-biting season of negotiations ahead of Oct. 31, when Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union. Johnson rose to power last month on a hard-line platform that his country would depart the bloc in October, regardless of whether a deal was in place to ease the transition.
The European response came a day after Johnson demanded that EU leaders throw out an insurance plan, known as the “backstop,” that would ensure an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The open border is a key part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which calmed decades of sectarian violence.
“The backstop is an insurance to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland unless and until an alternative is found,” European Council President Donald Tusk wrote on Twitter. “Those against the backstop and not proposing realistic alternatives in fact support reestablishing a border. Even if they do not admit it.”
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Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2019/08/20/eu-slaps-down-johnsons-opening-gambit-to-renegotiate-brexit/
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