Germany's Merkel Hails New EU-UK Brexit Deal As 'Good News'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of the EU summit on Thursday that a compromise reached between EU and UK negotiators on a new draft Brexit deal was "good news."

BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2019) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of the EU summit on Thursday that a compromise reached between EU and UK negotiators on a new draft Brexit deal was "good news."

"The news of the day is, of course, that a deal has been successfully agreed by the UK government and the European Commission. We are studying it right now to form an opinion about it but, naturally, we already know what most of it is about and so far it's been good news," she told reporters in Brussels.

Merkel added that the pact protected both the integrity of the EU single market and the Irish peace agreement. She added that Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar was "totally happy" with its terms.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the deal "gives us hope that there will eventually be an orderly Brexit." He praised top EU negotiator Michel Barnier for "accomplishing nothing less than a diplomatic feat."

"I don't want to get ahead of debates in the European Council and the European Parliament but we are relieved that the two negotiating teams have reached a compromise," he said in Berlin.

The "divorce" deal must be ratified by the UK and EU parliaments. The British House of Commons will vote on it on Saturday. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to take his country out of the European Union on October 31.