U.K. Can't Introduce New Red Brexit Lines, Irish Minister Says

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. can’t row back on previous commitments given in Brexit talks, Ireland’s Europe Minister said.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said Britain must not agree to extend the Brexit transition period unless the European Union drops its demand for a fallback to protect Northern Ireland from having a hard border, the Telegraph reported on Sunday.

U.K. has several time agreed to the need for a backstop, or insurance policy, to ensure no hard border re-emerges in Ireland after Brexit, Helen McEntee said in an interview with RTE radio on Sunday. The question of how to avoid a hard border in Ireland has become the thorniest issue in talks over the U.K.’s departure from the bloc.

“There must be a political agreement,” she said, calling for a deal “sooner rather than later.”

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