KRAKOW, Poland, Oct.6, 2018 (News Wires) - European Council President Donald Tusk said on Saturday it was possible to agree a deal with Britain on leaving the European Union by the end of 2018. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Krakow, Poland, Tusk said: "We will try for it in October ... and I think there is a chance to have an accord by the end of the year." Meanwhile, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told three Austrian newspapers that the chances of Britain and the European Union striking a Brexit deal on their divorce are rising amid reports the two sides are moving closer on the fraught issue of the Irish border. Juncker said in comments published Saturday that "the rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days." Negotiations faltered after the EU said last month that British Prime Minister Theresa May's proposal for post-Brexit economic relations was unacceptable. The two sides spent days trading bad-tempered barbs, with EU leaders demanding an apology after British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt compared the bloc to the Soviet Union. But officials have been meeting behind the scenes before a key summit in Brussels on Oct. 17 and 18. EU leaders say there needs to be major progress at the meeting for there to be a deal before Britain leaves the bloc on March 29. The main obstacle is ensuring there are no customs posts or border checks along the frontier between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. Both sides say the border must be kept open, but haven't agreed on how that can be accomplished. The Irish border impasse has heightened fears that the U.K. could find itself crashing out of the bloc without a deal. The U.K. government has acknowledged that could leave planes grounded and trucks backed up at British ports. Juncker said a "no-deal" Brexit would be bad for both Britain and the EU. "Our will is unbroken to reach agreement with the British government," he said.
