Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic is very engaged in the process of reaching an agreement on Great Britain's departure from the European Union, British ambassador to Croatia, Andrew Dalgleish, told Croatian reporters on Monday.

He talked to local reporters the day after intensive negotiations were held in Brussels about Britain’s exit from the European Union, and ahead of an EU emergency Brexit summit this week which is considered critical for an agreement on a divorce deal with Britain.

Asked about how he saw the role of Plenkovic in the negotiations on Brexit, Dalgleish said he is “very engaged” in the process of getting a deal between the 27 EU member countries and Britain.

As Britain is set to to leave the bloc on March 29, Brussels and London hope to reach an agreement which would prevent a so-called “no deal” Brexit without any transitional period agreed, which many believe might cause chaos and economic difficulties to both sides.

The biggest obstacle at the moment is finding a way to avoid a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which Brexit will turn into the only land border between the EU and Great Britain.

The latest Brexit battleground is over whether Northern Ireland should remain a member of the EU customs union, a proposal pushed by Brussels but rejected by London.

A customs union is an agreement that allows participating countries to set common external tariffs, allowing goods to travel freely between those countries.

The arrangement allows manufacturers to move goods and parts around the continent – which currently includes Britain and Northern Ireland – without cost or delay.

Dalgleish said it was unacceptable for London to see Northern Ireland remain part of the single market, as this would create a customs barrier between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

“We cannot have a solution which would set up a border within our borders. There is no country in the world that has that,” Dalgleish said.

Dalgleish added that there must be a balance between European Union’s wish to preserve the integrity of the bloc’s single market and the customs union, and the needs of the United Kingdom to preserve the integrity of its territory.

“We have an understanding about this issue and our negotiators are working on it,” Dalgleish said.

Dalgleish added that even though some progress was made in talks on Sunday, it was still insufficient, so it was decided that negotiators would take a break until the summit.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart Dominic Raab unexpectedly met in Brussels on Sunday.

According to media reports, a tentative deal on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement reached at technical level in Brussels collapsed following the Sunday meeting.

However, Dalgliesh dismissed these speculations and said it simply was not true that the negotiations had collapsed.

“It is not the end of the world. The talks were god but there was no breakthrough,” he said.

European Union leaders will meet to discuss a possible Brexit deal with Britain in Brussels on October 17-18.

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