Britain is sending a “terrible signal around the world” intentionally raising tensions instead of being honest with the EU over post-Brexit agreements for Northern Ireland, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said.
Speaking after a joint denunciation by Ireland and Germany of Boris Johnson’s offer to remove the Northern Ireland protocol his government had negotiated with the EU, Coveney said most countries Europeans were of one opinion.
“If you listen to any European capital, be it Paris, Prague, Warsaw or Madrid, they’re all saying the same thing in the UK – don’t violate international law,” Coveney said.
“Certainly not at this time when we are trying to hold Russia accountable under international law. There is a way forward in negotiations. The EU has shown its willingness to commit.”
Coveney said London’s claims that it was forced to breach the protocol, designed to avoid a hard border in Ireland after the UK withdrew from the EU, “do not hold up” as it had rejected negotiations since of February.
“Progress has been stalled for a few months now,” he said.
“The British government has not been involved in serious negotiations since February 11 … That is the truth. That is why when the British government now says it has exhausted negotiations, we are not getting anywhere, so we must act unilaterally with our own legislation; that argument just can’t stand it, when it hasn’t even tried to negotiate since February. . ”
Progress can only be achieved “if the British government comes back and starts talking to the EU in an honest and realistic way, instead of saying effectively: Give us what we want or legislate to take it anyway and break it the international law to do so “.
“This is sending a terrible signal around the world as to what this British government stands for,” he told RTÉ’s This Week.
The EU and Ireland recognize problems with the protocol and “that the unionist community in Northern Ireland has legitimate grievances that can be responded to with flexibility and pragmatism,” he added.
A joint complaint by the Irish and German governments to the Observer newspaper warned on Sunday that Johnson had “no legal or political justification” for his plans to overturn the Brexit deal in Northern Ireland.
With senior officials already warning the UK Prime Minister that they risk breaking the union by moving forward with the plan, Coveney and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock made a rare joint statement condemning the UK for “unilaterally pulling out an international agreement” . .
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The two ministers say the recent elections to the Northern Ireland assembly, which gave a majority of members supporting the protocol, showed support for the current agreements. They add that the EU had been and will continue to be “flexible and creative” in tackling the problems that have hampered trade between Northern Ireland and Britain.
“In these difficult times, while Russia is leading a ruthless war in Ukraine, breaking with our European peace order, the EU and the United Kingdom must be united as partners with shared values and a commitment to maintain and strengthen the ‘international rule-based order’. they write.
EU effort
The intervention shows a coordinated effort within the EU to support Ireland in the dispute, as well as a tightening of Germany’s position on Brexit with the arrival of the new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz. It will intensify concern that Mr Johnson’s decision to go ahead with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which many legal experts believe violates international law, will trigger a trade war with the EU as inflation continues to hit. .
Although the UK proposals passed its last parliamentary vote last week, more than 70 Conservative MPs abstained or received permission to lose the vote. The proposals were also criticized for violating international law by former British Prime Minister Theresa May. – Additional Guardian report
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