German Europe Minister: Northern Ireland peace, EU single market non-negotiable

Reuters
German Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Roth holds a news conference at the German consulate after visiting the Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yucel at Silivri prison in Istanbul

BERLIN (Reuters) - Peace in Northern Ireland and the integrity of the EU single market are non-negotiable for the EU, Germany's Minister for European Affairs Michael Roth said hours before British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

"Spinning gold from straw has never yet worked. That is also true of Brexit. Peace in Northern Ireland as well as the integrity of the internal market are not negotiable for the EU," Roth tweeted on Wednesday.

"We can talk about future ties between Britain and the EU."

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers, Editing by Tassilo Hummel)