EU's Von Der Leyen Urges UK to Keep Brexit Promises on Northern Ireland Goods Checks

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th June, 2021) The United Kingdom has to keep its promises on Northern Ireland trade as agreed in the UK-EU post-Brexit future partnership agreement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday.

"The Good Friday Agreement & peace on the island of Ireland are paramount. We negotiated a Protocol that preserves this, signed & ratified by the United Kingdom and the European Union. We want the best possible relations with the UK. Both sides must implement what we agreed on," von der Leyen wrote on Twitter following a meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the margins of the G7 summit in the English county of Cornwall.

Tensions between the United Kingdom and the European Union have remained high despite both sides agreeing to a future partnership agreement late last year, following the UK's exit from the bloc.

The EU has accused the UK government of attempting to backtrack on its pledges to implement border checks on food and agricultural goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom.

This measure has been seen as a stopgap to prevent the establishment of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which would be seen to violate the Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 deal that brought an end to decades of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland.

Over recent days, threats of a so-called "sausage war' have emerged, after UK ministers pledged to unilaterally ignore legally-required checks on chilled meat moving from the rest of the UK to Northern Ireland once a grace period expires at the end of June.

The United Kingdom left the European Union on January 31, triggering an 11-month transition period that gave both London and Brussels time to conclude a host of agreements, including a wide-ranging free trade deal.

After months of negotiations, both parties reached a future partnership agreement on December 24, avoiding the prospect of a no-deal Brexit with just one week to spare.