MNI BRIEF: EU Sefcovic To Brief On EU-UK, Protocol Issues Tues

EU Vice President Maros Sefcovic will brief Europe ministers Tuesday on the current status of EU-UK relations, including the Northern Ireland Protocol, a senior source said. The source said that the EU remained open to practical and flexible solutions, but stressed again that there would be ne renegotiation of the Protocol.

"Our focus remains to find practical but also long-term solutions in a flexible manner, and we believe this is possible," the source said.

The recent announcement of the Australia-UK-US security partnership AUKUS, which has prompted France to recall its ambassadors from Australia and the US was not on the agenda of the upcoming meeting, but he said he could not rule out that it would be discussed in a "more informal" way. Sefcovic will give a press conference at 1700 CET Tuesday, following the ministerial meeting.