Germany: Merkel offers Johnson alternative to Irish border backstop at Berlin talks

W/S German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcoming UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Berlin
M/S Protesters shouting: 'Boris go home, you weren't even elected'
W/S Merkel and Johnson sitting down in front of military regiment
W/S Military regiment
M/S Merkel looking at protesters shouting
M/S German, UK and EU flags *NO SOUND AT SOURCE*
W/S Merkel and Johnson walking in front of military regiment
W/S Merkel and Johnson arriving for news conference, Berlin
SOT, Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister: "I just want to be absolutely clear with all our German friends and with the German government that we in the UK want a deal. We seek a deal and I believe that we can get one, we can do it, 'Wir schaffen das' [we can do it] I think is the phrase. But clearly we cannot accept the current withdrawal agreement arrangements that either divide the UK or lock us into the regulatory trading arrangements of the EU, the legal order of the EU without the UK having any saying on those matters. So we do need that backstop removed but if we can do that then I am absolutely certain that we can move forward together."
W/S Merkel and Johnson on stage
SOT, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (German): "Of course, we follow the discussions in British Parliament and we know that the backstop has been part of the debate. In a way it [the backstop] is a construct that has been created to address the situation when one ceases finding any settlement on how to deal with the relationship between Northern Ireland and Ireland in the domestic market border. So in a way, it is an expression of a problem that we still couldn't solve. Once we see that could possibly be arranged and solved, this backstop, as a sort of a placeholder, is no more needed. Then we know what the future relationship between the European Union and Great Britain will be like and especially Northern Ireland, and what the membership of the Republic of Ireland will look like."
M/S Photographers
SOT, Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister: "The United Kingdom will under no circumstances implement checks, customs checks or any type of checks at the border in Northern Ireland. I hope that is absolutely clear. We think that there are ways of protecting the integrity of the EU single market without having checks of that kind at the border."
W/S Journalists
M/S Merkel and Johnson shaking hands
SCRIPT
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has offered UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to find a solution to the Irish backstop within 30 days after talks in Berlin on Wednesday. The two leaders held a joint news conference following the negotiations.
"We cannot accept the current withdrawal agreement arrangements that either divide the UK or lock us into the regulatory trading arrangements of the EU, the legal order of the EU without the UK having any saying on those matters. So we do need that backstop removed but if we can do that then I am absolutely certain that we can move forward together," said Boris Johnson.
The German chancellor emphasized that it is the UK’s responsibility to find a solution to the problem. "Once we see that could possibly be arranged and solved, this backstop, as a sort of a placeholder, is no more needed. Then we know what the future relationship between the European Union and Great Britain will be like and especially Northern Ireland, and what the membership of the Republic of Ireland will look like," said Merkel.
Boris Johnson's visit to Germany is his first foreign trip as Prime Minister.