Donald Tusk has rejected Boris Johnson’s call to scrap the Brexit border backstop.
And he has dismissed his belligerent stance, saying it offers “no realistic alternatives.”
The EU Council President has given important backing to Ireland as the Brexit crisis lurches towards the doomsday crash exit on October 31st.
He said that there is nothing new in what Mr Johnson proposed in a letter to him last night.
This was the first formal communication from the new British Prime Minister to the EU.
He used it to try and convince Mr Tusk to break ranks with Ireland and the rest of the EU in our insistence that the backstop is not up for renegotiation.
Mr Tusk tweeted this morning: “The backstop is an insurance to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland unless and until an alternative is found.
“Those against the backstop and not proposing realistic alternatives in fact support reestablishing a border.
“Even if they do not admit it.”
