Biden to Johnson: There must be no border between Great Britain and Ireland

(Patria) - Newly elected US President Joe Biden reiterated his call for the border between Ireland and Great Britain to remain open, as this sensitive issue still threatens to complicate the final phase of negotiations on trade relations after Brexit.

During a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Biden emphasized the importance of protecting the peace agreement for Northern Ireland in the Brexit process. He mentioned that he had also discussed this topic with other European leaders.

Let us recall, Johnson's government is trying to reach a trade agreement with the EU, but does not hide that it is willing to leave the EU even without a deal, which could complicate the already sensitive situation regarding the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which represents Great Britain's only 'hard border' with the EU.  

When asked by a journalist what he would like to tell the Brexit negotiators, Biden replied: 'We don't want a guarded border.'

The 1998 'Good Friday' peace agreement helped to stop 30 years of sectarian violence, as well as to form institutions for cross-border cooperation on the island of Ireland.

However, the Brexit law proposed by Prime Minister Johnson in September would constitute a violation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which seeks to avoid the creation of a physical border between Northern Ireland as a British province and Ireland, which is an EU member.  

Biden, who is of Irish descent, warned several months ago that Great Britain must respect the 1998 agreement when withdrawing from the EU, or there will be no trade agreement with the US.  

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin stated last Monday that he hopes for a first draft of a free trade agreement between Britain and the EU by the end of this week, despite 'fundamental disagreements' in the negotiations mentioned by EU negotiators.