Michel Barnier, the negotiator of the European Union (EU) for the withdrawal of Great Britain from the membership (Brexit), warned today of the danger of the failure of negotiations with London on Brexit due to the issue of the border with Ireland. "The draft agreement should contain a clear and operational solution for Ireland. Until an agreement is reached, there is a risk of negotiations failing," Barnier said at a press conference in Ireland. Barnier was today in Dandok, a place on the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Yesterday, the European negotiator called on London to find a solution to the border issue with Ireland and added that it is time for Great Britain to "resolve its contradictions". Great Britain, like the EU, does not want the introduction of a "hard" border between Northern Ireland and Ireland itself, a member of the EU, after Brexit scheduled for the end of March 2019. It is about preserving the peace agreement from 1998, reached after three decades of conflict between Northern Irish nationalists and unionists. The agreement strengthened the ties between the two territories. "Brexit has created a specific problem with Ireland. Great Britain needs to present some practical solution", Barnije assessed and added that there is currently no such solution. In March, the British accepted that the option of a "common regulatory space" between the EU and Northern Ireland be introduced in the draft agreement with the EU, until another solution is found. Barnije said that the EU agrees with this in principle, but that negotiations are necessary. According to him, progress in resolving the issue of the border with Ireland should be achieved by June, when the European Council meeting dedicated to Brexit will be held.
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