(21 Aug 2019) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeated calls to ditch the Irish backstop during a state visit to Berlin on Wednesday.
The Conservative Party leader is in Europe this week to attempt to broker a new Brexit deal before the October 31 deadline.
Speaking alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he said the UK "wanted a deal" but could not accept the backstop.
"We cannot accept the current withdrawal agreement arrangements that either divide the UK or lock us into the regulatory trading arrangements of the EU... without the UK having any say on those matters," he said at a joint press conference.
"But if we can do that (remove the backstop), then I'm absolutely certain that we can move forward together."
Johnson used a German phrase in his address, that brought Merkel great pain in the recent past.
"Wir schaffen das" - "we can manage this" - was her response in 2015 when was quizzed on whether Germany could absorb huge numbers of immigrants at the height of the migrant crisis.
It soon came into wider use - for criticising Merkel's immigration policy. In 2016 she said she would not use the phrase again.
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