Irish PM Varadkar in Brussels as Brexit talks enter frenzied fortnight
[ad_1] BRUSSELS: Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar arrives in Brussels to meet European Union officials on Thursday as Brexit talks enter a frenzied fortnight designed to produce a divorce deal with Britain and a blueprint for future ties. The Brexit countdown begins with Varadkar meeting EU leaders' chairman Donald Tusk and the bloc's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier later on Thursday. Barnier will on Friday meet politicians from Northern Ireland where the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), on which British Prime Minister Theresa May relies to govern, is key to sealing any agreement to end Britain's four decades in the bloc. "It will be long hours and it may get messy but there will be a deal. The cost of no-deal is just too big," said a senior EU diplomat of the talks, aimed at agreeing a fix to the Irish border in time for an Oct 17-18 EU summit and then the outline of post-Brexit ties by another one on Nov 17-18. Both sides are readying concessions ...