US state department warns against “a big fight between the UK and the EU” amid the Ukraine war.
Image source, Reuters
The UK’s dispute with the European Union over Northern Ireland trade risks undermining Western unity amid the Ukraine war, a senior US official says.
Derek Chollet told the BBC the US hoped the row over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade deal could be resolved.
He said “a big fight between the UK and the EU” was “the last thing” the US wanted.
Vladimir Putin would “use any opportunity he can to show that our alliance is fraying”, he added.
“We’re at a moment where we need to be showing a message of unity,” said Mr Chollet, who is the most senior adviser to the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken.
He urged the UK and the EU to “refrain from unilateral acts” and “lower the temperature” as they attempt to end weeks of political instability in Northern Ireland.
It is rare for senior US officials to comment on the UK’s domestic affairs given the historically close relationship between the two nations.
But Mr Chollet’s comments echo recent interventions by senior US politicians, including President Joe Biden and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
US concern
On Thursday Ms Pelosi said she was “deeply concerned” that the UK was seeking to “unilaterally discard” Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade deal, known as the protocol.
She said US Congress would not support a trade agreement with the UK if its actions jeopardised the peace process in Northern Ireland.
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The UK government has argued that changes to the way goods are shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are needed to restore its devolved government.
The power-sharing administration cannot be formed without the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which has refused to join in until reforms are made to the protocol.
The DUP says under the protocol, which was agreed by the UK and the EU after the Brexit vote, has created economic barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
On Tuesday Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK government would introduce a law to change the protocol unilaterally should negotiations with the EU fail.
The basics
- The Northern Ireland Protocol is part of the Brexit deal: it means lorries don’t face checkpoints when they go from Northern Ireland (in the UK) to the Republic of Ireland (in the EU)
- Instead, when goods arrive in Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK (England, Scotland and Wales), they are checked against EU rules
- The UK and the EU chose this arrangement because the Irish border is a sensitive issue due to Northern Ireland’s troubled political history
Read more: Guide to the Brexit border problem
Mrs Pelosi warned against any action that might endanger the Good Friday Agreement, a peace deal that ended decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.
In the first of several tweets, she wrote: “Ensuring there is no physical border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland is necessary for upholding this landmark agreement, which transformed Northern Ireland.”
‘Entirely unhelpful’
But the UK’s former Brexit minister, Lord Frost, has criticised Mrs Pelosi for making what he called an “ignorant” statement about the situation in Northern Ireland.
Lord Frost, who negotiated the protocol with the EU, said there was no plan to put a physical border in place on the island of Ireland.
“Nobody’s ever suggested that. So I don’t know why she’s suggesting that in her statement,” Lord Frost told the Week in Westminster on BBC Radio 4.
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He then denied that making changes to the arrangement would undermine the Good Friday Agreement.
“It is the protocol itself that’s undermining [the Good Friday Agreement] and people who can’t see that really shouldn’t be commenting on situation in Northern Ireland”, said the former minister.
The protocol was agreed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Union after the UK voted to leave the bloc in 2016.
It is a special arrangement that keeps Northern Ireland aligned with the EU single market for goods, avoiding a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.
The arrangement ensured free trade could continue across the Irish land border, which is a sensitive issue because of the history of conflict in Northern Ireland.
But the protocol brought in some new checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and has been criticised by unionist politicians since its introduction in 2021.
On Friday afternoon DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the protocol was undermining Northern Ireland’s political institutions.
“I would urge Speaker Pelosi to understand that because I think that her contributions are entirely unhelpful, offer no solution, offer no help and merely repeat a mantra that frankly is hopelessly out of date,” Mr Donaldson said.
He spoke as the Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin met Northern Ireland’s main parties to discuss the protocol and the political crisis.
Meanwhile, a US Congress delegation flew to Brussels for a meeting with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, who has been leading negotiations with the UK.
“We’re equally committed to protecting the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement,” he tweeted. “Joint solutions implementing the Protocol are the only way to do so.”