EU's Barnier assures Ireland of support during Brexit talks

BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union's Brexit negotiator assures Ireland of his full support during the talks and says any deal affecting the border on the island will have to respect EU law.

Michel Barnier told Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney that talks with Britain on the border situation between member state Ireland and the U.K's Northern Ireland are progressing slowly and have yet to make decisive progress on key issues.

He assured Coveney that "every solution we will look at will have to be fully compatible with Union law" and the EU principle of being able to do business seamlessly across the bloc.

Coveney said that "most importantly," he wanted to see how the peace process could be maintained between the two, as they share "an invisible border that is 500 kilometers."