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EU Leaders Meet for Third Day of Talks in Brussels

VOA News

   As European Union leaders began a third day of talks in Brussels Sunday
   to try to agree on a massive coronavirus economic recovery plan and an
   unprecedented $2 trillion multi-year budget, German Chancellor Angela
   Merkel warned the summit of 27 leaders could still end without a deal.

   "Whether there will be a solution, I still can't say," Merkel said upon
   arrival for the extra day of talks. "There is a lot of good will, but
   there are also a lot of positions. So, I will join in working for it.
   But there may also be no result today."

   Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and the summit host, European
   Council President Charles Michel, were poised to prepare a new offer to
   overcome the logjam after the scheduled two-day summit produced no
   results Saturday.

   Merkel and Macron walked out of the heated talks late Saturday after
   the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his allies in the
   so-called "Frugal Five"-- Austria, Finland, Denmark and Sweden
   --blocked an earlier proposed deal.

   "They run off in a bad mood," Rutte said in the early hours of Sunday.
   "The fact that we continue talking shows we all have optimism."

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