Senior U.K. and European Union officials met Thursday as part of what Britain called “intensive negotiations” to resolve a thorny post-Brexit trade dispute that has spawned a political crisis in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris traveled to Brussels to meet Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator.
Hopes of a breakthrough were raised last week when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak flew to Belfast to meet leaders of Northern Ireland’s political leaders and discuss progress. But hints of compromise by the U.K. government sparked opposition from hard-line euroskeptics in Sunak’s governing Conservative Party, costing the prime minister vital political momentum to secure a deal.
