Dublin voiced alarm over Boris Johnson’s ‘collision course’ with the EU today after the new PM clashed with Emmanuel Macron.
The new PM made clear to the French President in a tense late-night phone call that there will be no more negotiations unless Brussels agrees to ditch the hated Irish border backstop.
Mr Johnson delivered the same tough message to Jean-Claude Juncker when the commission president spoke to him last night.
But Brussels has dismissed the demands as ‘unacceptable’, while French ministers accused the premier of ‘posturing’.
Irish deputy PM Simon Coveney warned Mr Johnson’s hard line was a ‘very bad day’ for the prospects of a deal, suggesting everything now depended on whether the UK would back down.
The bruising exchanges set the stage for a series of showdowns as Mr Johnson embarks on what is expected to be a tour of key European capitals this summer.
There are signs that EU states are starting to contemplate the possibility that the UK will not bow to pressure from the bloc – raising the danger of a bitter economic and security standoff lasting years.
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See Also:
(1) Nigel Farage Praises, and Warns, Boris Johnson
(2) Boris’s Brexit Cabinet Is the Soundest Since Margaret Thatcher
(3) We’re serious! Boris refuses to appoint new Euro Commissioner to prove Brexit IS on Oct 31
(4) Boris Johnson to call general election before Brexit deadline – ‘Must get a mandate’
(5) With Boris at the helm, Europe must be terrified
