Angela Merkel challenges Boris Johnson to solve Brexit crisis in next '30 days'

The UK is on course to leave the EU without a deal at the end of October after Johnson insisted the current Withdrawal Agreement is unacceptable.
Merkel said an alternative could be found within the next "30 days" in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
However, she said the responsibility for avoiding a chaotic exit lays with the UK.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has challenged Boris Johnson to identify a Brexit solution within the next month after he insisted that Britain could not sign up to the current EU withdrawal deal.

Speaking at a press conference with the British prime minister in Berlin, Merkel said that it was possible to secure a new deal and prevent Britain leaving the EU without a deal on October 31.

"If one finds the solution, we can probably find it over the next two years, but maybe we can find it in the next 30 days to come," she told Johnson.

Johnson welcomed the Chancellor's "blistering timetable" and insisted that Britain was actively seeking a new deal with the EU.

However, he repeated his insistence that Britain could not sign up to the Northern Ireland "backstop" element of the current deal, which is designed to prevent a hard border with Ireland.

Under the terms of the backstop, the UK could be kept indefinitely within EU trading and customs rules, in order to prevent border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Merkel replied that the backstop was necessary until a new relationship between Britain and the EU is agreed, or until an agreeable alternative is proposed by the UK.

In the absence of such a proposal, she insisted that Germany is "prepared" for a no-deal exit.

The exchange followed reports that EU leaders increasingly believe that Britain is heading for a no-deal Brexit.

The French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly believes that a no-deal Brexit is now the "most likely" outcome at the end of October.

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Angela Merkel challenges Boris Johnson to solve Brexit crisis in next '30 days'

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