Eurocrats admit they’ll force Ireland to put up hard border in No Deal Brexit
An EU spokesman said there would be border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic
BRUSSELS threw Leo Varadkar’s Brexit stance into disarray on Tuesday night saying he must have a hard border if there’s No Deal.
Eurocrats said there would be checks and infrastructure at the frontier despite the Irish PM’s tough talking.
Desperate Irish PM Leo Varadkar insisted the controls won't be needed - claiming Ireland and the UK would negotiate a "backstop" arrangement even if there's No Deal.
But the European Commission rubbished that, sparking pandemonium in Dublin.
The EU executive warned this morning that a UK crash-out would endanger the peace process and said contingency work with Dublin is "intensifying".
They channelled the Spice Girls to warn Theresa May it is time for Westminster to “tell us what they want, what they really, really want”.
A spokesman said: "In a No Deal scenario in Ireland I think it is pretty obvious you will have a hard border."
The shock outburst represents the first time Brussels has openly said a No Deal Brexit would mean a return to a hard border.
Mr Varadkar has repeatedly insisted that could never happen under any circumstances.
It is pretty obvious you will have a hard border
EU spokesman
Last week he said: "We are not planning for checks on the land border in Northern Ireland.”
But if the UK leaves without a deal Dublin will be legally obliged to impose controls to defend the outer frontier of the bloc's single market.
Asked about the EU's claim today, Mr Varadkar said a hard border under No Deal could be avoided by an arrangement similar to the hated backstop already rejected by British MPs.
He told the Irish parliament: "We'd have to negotiate an agreement on customs and regulations so that there would be no hard border. We already have that agreement. It is the backstop.
"We have a proposal that does work. We have to stand by it."
It is unclear whether the UK Government would sign up to a backstop in a No Deal scenario, given the strength of feeling against the arrangement within Britain.
The DUP's Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson accused the EU of making the remarks to try and scare MPs into voting for a "bad deal".
He said: "More belligerent bluffing from the EU in a desperate attempt to up the ante. It didn’t work before and it won’t work now."
IRISH UNDER PRESSURE
The revelations came as it emerged EU states are set to pressure Ireland into softening its stance on the backstop if No Deal is taken off the table.
Member states are so worried about a UK crash-out they will make behind-the-scenes representations to Dublin, according to German newspaper Handelsblatt.
EU diplomats have insisted the backstop is only likely to be reopened if Ireland publicly agrees to a renegotiation.
One said: "Member states aren’t going to send out the message that they value their relationship with a country that’s leaving over one that’s staying.
"If Dublin were to move and indicate otherwise then that might change the picture."
But the first signs of cracks within the bloc emerged yesterday as Poland proposed limiting the border solution to five years to avoid no deal.
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Foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz said Ireland should make the move to "unblock the negotiations" but was immediately slapped down by Dublin and Berlin.
EU capitals are expecting negotiations on a deal to go down to the wire as both sides end up involved in a "game of chicken".
Spain's foreign minister Josep Borrell said: "In the EU all agreements are achieved on the razor's edge, at the last moment."
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