Irish PM Does Not See Much Room for Brexit Deal Renegotiation

Irish Prime Minister said on Friday that more UK Members of Parliament may support the deal as reality eventually sinks in.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he did not consider renegotiating the Brexit agreement possible, regardless of who holds the position of Brexit Secretary.

According to the official, a no-deal Brexit would be very chaotic, but the UK might sign the deal in a few weeks.

Speaking about the possibility of a no-deal scenario, the prime minister stressed that it would be extremely difficult to avoid post-Brexit hard border on the island of Ireland.

 “We can avoid a hard border by signing up for the agreement that has been negotiated,” Varadkar told reporters. “I think in a no-deal scenario it would be very hard to avoid a hard border.”

In addition, he emphasized that it was senseless to entertain goodwill keeping the border open.

Varadkar comments come after May’s draft Brexit deal with the European Union received support of senior ministers earlier this week, and it is to be finalized and submitted to Parliament. However, six government ministers, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, resigned from their posts. Dominic Raab argued that the proposed regulatory regime for Northern Ireland would “pose a very real threat” to the UK’s integrity.

One of the stumbling blocks appeared to be the so-called Irish border backstop, a EU-UK customs arrangement that would be launched if London and Brussels failed to agree on all terms of their future relationship by the end of the transition period.

SPUTNIK

R.S