Merkel vows to fight 'till last hour' to avoid no-deal Brexit

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged Wednesday to work "until the last hour" to prevent a no-deal Brexit and warned of the security impact on Ireland and Northern Ireland.

"I've always said I'm going to fight until the last hour... so we can see an orderly exit," she said on the eve of an Ireland visit, warning that avoiding a hard border was a matter of preserving the peace.

Speaking at a Berlin press conference, Merkel said that an orderly Brexit would be "in interest of Britain but also in our interest".

She said that -- because of the related issue of avoiding a new "hard border" between British Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland -- it would also affect "peace in Ireland".

Therefore it was "a question of violence or no violence and here we naturally want to make a contribution," Merkel said.

She stressed that ultimately "the solution has to be found by Great Britain itself" and expressed hope that Prime Minister Theresa May "will be successful".