UK, EU leaders to meet on Monday to finalise N. Ireland deal

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to announce a new deal on post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland on Monday, gambling that the reward of better ties with the European Union is worth the discord it might cause within his own party.

In power for only four months, Sunak is pursuing a high risk strategy that he can find a compromise to improve relations with Brussels – and the United States – without sufficiently angering the wing of his party most wedded to Brexit.

He is expected to hold a news conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later on Monday, while the EU chief will also visit King Charles, a meeting that has already drawn criticism because the monarch is not supposed to be involved in political matters.

The deal seeks to resolve tensions caused by the 2020 post-Brexit arrangements governing the British province and its open border with EU member Ireland, but it remains to be seen whether it will go far enough to end political deadlock in Northern Ireland and satisfy critics in Britain.