Irish minister rejects Polish idea to break Brexit's backstop deadlock
Brussels had suggested the Irish border deal be limited to five years
Poland’s foreign minister said on Monday he had proposed limiting the Irish backstop to five years to unblock the Brexit deadlock, but Ireland dismissed the idea at once as out of line with the EU’s stance. The Irish backstop, an insurance policy to avoid the return of a hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, is the most contentious element of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, which the British MPs rejected overwhelmingly last week. “I’ve just discussed that idea with my [Irish] counterpart Simon Coveney and also with [British foreign minister] Jeremy Hunt today. I think it would be one of the solutions,” Poland’s Jacek Czaputowicz told reporters on entering a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. “So that’s an idea to be discussed within the European Union. I don’t know if it’s feasible — if Ireland is ready to put forward such a proposal, but I have an impression that it might unblock the negotiations.” But Coveney said the idea would n...
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