US President-elect Joe Biden has used his first phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to voice his concerns about the impact of Brexit on peace in Northern Ireland.
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A British official confirms that Biden, whose family has Irish roots, during the twenty-minute conversation cited the Good Friday agreement regarding the Brexit negotiations. The 1998 accord ended decades of violence between pro-Irish Catholics and pro-British Protestants.
Johnson responded by promising the president-to-be that the United Kingdom will uphold the peace agreement. Later, when Biden spoke to Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin on the phone, he also emphasized to him the importance he attaches to peace in Northern Ireland.
Johnson had previously congratulated the president-elect in a tweet. “I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our countries and working with him around our shared priorities,” said Johnson, citing climate change as an example.
The exchange between Biden and Johnson marks a somewhat awkward beginning of a new chapter in the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. Biden is known to be an outspoken opponent of Brexit. President Donald Trump, who is still sitting, is considered a strong supporter of the British exit from the European Union.
‘In the back of the row’
In September, Biden expressed concern about Johnson’s plan to flout international treaties with a new Internal Market law, which would allow the UK government to act against international law and previous agreements with the EU.
President Barack Obama, of whom Biden was vice-president for eight years, threatened in 2016 ahead of the Brexit referendum that the UK would have to join the ‘back of line’ in the event of EU exit to negotiate free trade agreements with the US.
Those negotiations began during Trump’s presidency, but will soon be taken over by the Biden administration. It may be years before the US and UK are out. Biden said in September that a US-UK free trade agreement should help preserve peace in Northern Ireland and prevent another hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
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