WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th April, 2023) US President Biden on Wednesday backed the Windsor Framework negotiated by the UK and the European Commission in February to amend Northern Ireland Protocol post-Brexit.
"Now I know the UK's departure from the European Union created complex challenges here in Northern Ireland. I deeply appreciate the personal leadership of Prime Minister Sunak and European Commissioner von der Leyen to reach an agreement," Biden said during remarks in Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. "The Windsor Framework addresses the practical realities of Brexit and it's an essential step to ensuring hard-earned peace and progress to the Good Friday Agreement (are) preserved and strengthened."
Biden said he believed democratic institutions established per the agreement remained critical to Northern Ireland's future. Democracy, he insisted, was something that every generation needed to continue to fight for.
He added that preserving peace and the Good Friday Agreement was an unusual bipartisan priority in the US. Peace and economic opportunity went hand in hand and "scores" of major US corporations were interested in investing in Northern Ireland.
