British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet in Brussels tonight with senior officials of the European Union in the hope of renewing the stalled negotiations regarding the exit of Great Britain from the European Union.
Theresa May's surprise meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier follows Barnier's warning last week that the latest round of talks had ended in a "disturbing stalemate" over Britain's financial obligations to the Union.
The EU estimates that Great Britain needs to pay between 60 and 100 billion euros of the obligations it took on as a member of the EU, including for development projects and pensions for civil servants. London rejects such sums.
The EU is seeking progress on so-called divorce issues - a financial settlement, citizens' rights and the status of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland - before moving on to future trade and security arrangements. The leaders of the other 27 member states are expected to decide this week that there has not been enough progress to move the negotiations to the next stage.
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson today asked the EU to speed up negotiations and start talks on former relations with Great Britain, which should leave the EU by March 2019. Arriving at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, Johnson said that it is time to start the negotiations.
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