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German Foreign Minister Analena Baerbock has taken aim at Brexit ahead of a showdown with her UK counterpart James Cleverly. She said the UK’s decision to leave the EU put the Irish peace process at risk, saying the EU and UK have a responsibility to “protect and implement” the Northern Ireland Protocol. <\/p>\n
Ms Baebock said: “Brexit was and is a watershed for us all. That applies particularly to the relationship between the United Kingdom and Ireland due to the division of the island of Ireland.<\/p>\n
“It was only in 1998 that the Good Friday Agreement brought peace after more than 30 years of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
“This peace, the fact that hostilities have ceased and both Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland can once again live alongside one another in a spirit of good neighbourliness must not be jeopardised under any circumstances.”<\/p>\n
She added: “Yet precisely this is at stake as a result of Brexit and its consequences for trade, freedom of movement and other issues.”<\/p>\n
Ms Baerbock said the Protocol prevented “a hard border on the island of Ireland and thus also the reopening of the old wounds”.<\/p>\n
She added: “All of us – in the EU member states and in the United Kingdom – have a responsibility to protect and to implement the Northern Ireland Protocol.”<\/p>\n
Her comments came after the UK Foreign Secretary suggested that Germany’s position on the protocol might not be as strong as it seems.<\/p>\n
Mr Cleverly said Germany’s strong commitment to the Northern Ireland Protocol was “an avatar”, adding: “I think often what people say they want and what people actually want are subtly different”.<\/p>\n
The German government signed a coalition agreement which explicitly states that post-Brexit agreements, including the Northern Ireland Protocol, had to be “fully implemented”.<\/p>\n
The UK has been locked in talks with the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol – which was agreed as part of the withdrawal agreement to avoid a hard border in Ireland post-Brexit – since October 2021.<\/p>\n
It allows Northern Ireland to remain within the EU’s single market for goods but it has faced criticism because a border was effectively created between Great Britain and Northern Ireland down the Irish Sea.<\/p>\n
The border has led to delays, supermarket shortages and increased costs for businesses in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
There has been no functioning government in Stormont since the elections last May, as the DUP has refused to restore powersharing unless the Northern Ireland Protocol is scrapped.<\/p>\n
An election was triggered in Stormont in October after the executive was blocked from meeting due to the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, a bill extending the deadline for fresh elections to be held in Northern Ireland passed its third reading in the Commons.<\/p>\n
The bill – introduced by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris last week – is being fast-tracked through Parliament, passing all three stages in one day.<\/p>\n
It will extend the deadline for the Northern Ireland Assembly to be formed until December 8, with the possibility of a further six-week extension to 19 January.<\/p>\n
There has been no functioning government in Stormont since the elections last May, as the DUP has refused to restore powersharing unless the Northern Ireland Protocol is scrapped.<\/p>\n