European union president Donald Tusk has threatened to freeze Brexit talks unless matters relating to the Irish border are considered first . He said he had not come up with a " specific and realistic " alternative to keeping the Irish border open without activating the EU ’s own " backstop " option . Theresa May has rejected EU proposals for Northern Ireland in effect to remain in the European union and has said Brexit talks would be at risk if there was “ backsliding ” on principles agreed last week . He was speaking after talks with the Irish taoiseach , Leo Varadkar , in Dublin .
European Council president Donald Tusk has threatened to freeze Brexit talks unless issues relating to the Irish border are considered first. He said Britain had not come up with a "specific and realistic" alternative to keeping the Irish border open without activating the EU’s own "backstop" option. Theresa May has rejected EU proposals for Northern Ireland in effect to remain in the customs union and Tusk said Brexit progress could be at risk if there was “backsliding” on principles agreed last year. He was speaking after talks with the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, in Dublin.