UK PM Demands EU Reopen Negotiations

LONDON (AP) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has demanded that the European Union reopen Brexit negotiations, scrapping "anti-democratic" provisions for the Irish border that he says would threaten the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Johnson, who has made similar statements in the past, formally delivered his demands to the EU late Monday in a letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council.

Johnson is calling for an end to the so-called backstop, which would keep Britain closely aligned with the European customs union if the two sides can't agree on other ways to prevent the reintroduction of border checks on people and goods moving between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, after a one-hour call with Johnson on Monday, said the Brexit deal wouldn't be renegotiated.

(KR)