Barnier Rejects Freezing Brexit Talks If No Irish Progress

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator said failure to reach a deal on the Irish border will increase the risk of a messy divorce but ruled out resorting to punishment measures such as freezing talks with the U.K.

Brexit negotiations are at a stalemate over the issue of the Irish border: While both sides want to keep the new U.K.-EU frontier open after Brexit, no one has come up with a solution that’s acceptable to all. The EU is demanding ideas from the U.K. in time for a summit on June 28 but it’s not clear what the EU will do if it doesn’t get what it wants. Strong rhetoric is one option.