EU vows a firm response as Brexit tensions rise anew

BRUSSELS (AP) — Top European Union officials are vowing to use all measures available to ensure that the United Kingdom respects the terms of its Brexit agreement as tensions rise again over trade involving Northern Ireland. European Council President Charles Michel said Thursday that it’s “paramount to implement what we have decided. This is a question of rule of law.” Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are set to hold talks with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in an effort to defuse the row, on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in England. The dispute centers on provisions of the Brexit deal that essentially created a regulatory border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.