German backing for ‘good friend’ Ireland
Foreign minister says avoiding hard border ‘pivotal’
GERMANY’S foreign minister has stood squarely behind Ireland – ‘a close friend’ – as tension grows over Brexit.
Heiko Maas said that avoiding a hard border is a ‘pivotal issue’ and any negative impact on the peace process will be unacceptable.
His comments come after British prime minister Theresa May said a no-deal Brexit, though not easy, ‘would not be the end of the world’.
Mr Maas told a gathering of 200 of Germany’s ambassadors in Berlin yesterday – where he was joined by Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney – that the EU 27 must remain united.
He said: ‘Brexit will have far-reaching consequences for all stakeholders, but no country will be as affected sustainably as Ireland, and we stand by our position. We have to avoid a hard border, it is a pivotal issue.
‘Any insecurity or deterioration in relation to Northern Ireland must not happen as a consequence of Brexit. In this regard we need the united voice of the 27 partners in the European Union. And we need this cooperation on other matters as well. When it comes to migrawhile tion for instance. This is why it is good to have Ireland as a pro-European voice and that we’re able to count on Ireland as a close friend.’
Time is running out for a deal and a no-deal Brexit would spell chaos for the UK but it would also be an economic disaster for Ireland, and could lead to the return of a hard border.
The Tánaiste thinks the chances of this happening are ‘very slim’, despite Mrs May’s comments. Mr Coveney said: ‘I think talk of being able to survive or manage a no-deal Brexit is more a negotiating position than it is reality. Nobody benefits from a no-deal Brexit and we all have a responsibility to ensure that doesn’t happen.’
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said, earlier this month, a deal with Britain was needed ‘not much later’ than in early November and the bloc was not working towards a no-deal Brexit, it still had to prepare for it.
Mr Coveney said he believed it would be possible to strike a new agreement with the UK without compromising on the rules of the European Union.
‘Hopefully, the future relationship between the EU and the UK can be the closest possible one politically and economically, while at the same time ensuring that we protect what is core about the single market and the customs union, and indeed what it core about EU membership in the future,’ he said.
He also insisted the EU would not back down on its demand for the UK to include a ‘backstop’ agreement to ensure there can be no return to hard border. ‘It is certainly necessary as a fallback or insurance mechanism to reassure people that they’re not going to face the consequences of a physical border on the island of Ireland again,’ he said. ‘That is an EU as well as an Irish position that’s not going to change.’
May talks about a no-deal Brexit