UK and the European Union on Tuesday announced a pact to
regulate arrangement for Northern Irelands after Brexit, as two sides looked forward
to implement a wider trade deal, AFP reported.

British PM Boris Johnson is set to meet EU commission chief
Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels to salvage a trade deal that has hindered the
negotiations for months between the island nation and mainland Europe and its
single market.

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“I
am always hopeful, but I have to be honest with you, the situation at the
moment is tricky,” AFP quoted Johnson as saying regarding the issue.

Johnson
had a telephonic conversation with von der Leyen late on Monday, and managd to
secure an invitation to a meeting in person.

Northern Ireland will have the UK’s only
land border with the bloc from next year, and that border is meant to stay open
in all circumstances as part of the 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of
violence over British rule.

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There have been separate talks between
UK Minister Michael Grove and European
Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic regarding the Northern Ireland issue.

The 27
EU leaders are due to meet in person at a summit on Thursday, so time is short,
but Downing Street said details of Johnson’s trip were still being ironed out.