Juncker: Miracle needed for progress on Brexit talks

Tallinn: European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said any progress in the Brexit negotiations in the coming month would require a miracle, despite an acknowledgement by senior EU officials earlier that British leader Theresa May's speech in Florence last week had been "full of concessions". "At the end of October, we will not have sufficient progress", Juncker said. "I'm saying that there will be no sufficient progress from now until October unless miracles would happen," he said. Juncker's tone was pessimistic, in contrast to some EU leaders, as he told reporters there had not been enough movement by the British on its financial settlement, citizens' rights and the Irish border. Brussels has long demanded sufficient progress on those issues before it fulfils Britain's wish to move on to talks about trade.