Joe Biden and Boris Johnson meet Thursday for the first time face-to-face and hope to agree on a new pact, in a context blurred by the delicate issue of Brexit and its consequences in Northern Ireland.
The first trip abroad of the American president must mark the “return” of the United States after the mandate of Donald Trump, underlined Joe Biden while arriving Wednesday evening in the United Kingdom for a European tour which will take him from the summit of the G7 powers at a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Geneva.
He came with the promise, according to the White House, of a “historic” purchase by his country of 500 million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines against Covid-19 in order to donate them to 92 underprivileged countries via the device Covax, “the largest vaccine order and donation ever made by a single country”.
A sign of the importance given to the relationship with the British ally, he began his journey with a meeting with the British Prime Minister at Carbis Bay, a seaside resort in the South West of England which welcomes from Friday to Sunday the G7.
The two leaders must sign a new “Atlantic Charter” modeled on the Charter signed by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt 80 years ago, to reaffirm shared “values” and take into account new challenges like cyber attacks or the climate crisis.
The tensions that have agitated Northern Ireland since Brexit, however, darken the picture. Joe Biden, proud of his Irish origins, does not like London’s attempts to renege on its trade commitments to the European Union made in the context of Brexit.
The White House has warned the UK government that any snagging in the 1998 peace deal could jeopardize the success of a US-UK trade deal, so coveted by Mr Johnson.
According to the British daily The Times, the highest American diplomat stationed in Great Britain, Yael Lempert, accused London of “stoking” by its attitude the tensions in Northern Ireland.
Before the G7, a meeting on Wednesday between the British government and the European Commission failed to resolve the disputes concerning the post-Brexit customs provisions specific to the British province which undermine the peace obtained in 1998 and give rise to violence. Instead, the two sides accused each other of ill will and the EU warned that it would react strongly if London took unilateral action.
The so-called Good Friday agreement of 1998, obtained with the involvement of former US President Bill Clinton, put an end to the violence between Republicans (mainly Catholics) and Unionists (especially Protestants) which had caused some 3,500 deaths in 1930. years in Northern Ireland.
– “Commitment” for NATO –
Beyond this thorny subject, if the populist accents of “BoJo” have earned him comparisons with Donald Trump, a fervent supporter of Brexit, the conservative leader is much more in tune with Joe Biden’s administration on major international issues such as the climate crisis or the challenges posed by China and Russia.
A few days before the G7 summit, London supported the proposed minimum tax rate for companies championed by Joe Biden.
The new “Atlantic Charter” to be announced on Thursday must state that “while the world has changed since 1941, the values remain the same” regarding the defense of democracy, collective security and international trade, said let Downing Street know.
“President Biden and I will sign a charter which encompasses science, technology and trade and, above all, which underlines our common commitment to NATO which has been essential to our security for decades,” Boris Johnson stressed in a statement. He called for “dispelling any feeling of gloom” and “showing how NATO envisages 2030 (…) protecting our allies on the eastern flank of Europe and our peoples in the new domains of space and cyberspace”.
The two leaders are also due to discuss a resumption of travel between the UK and the US after the pandemic.
– “United Democracies” –
If Boris Johnson prefers to avoid the traditional expression of “special relationship” to qualify the links between the United Kingdom and the United States, for the White House, the expression remains valid. Joe Biden “will affirm the lasting strength of the special relationship” before highlighting US priorities at the G7, including shared democratic values, climate change and recovery from the pandemic, according to his spokesman Jen Psaki.
After the G7, Joe Biden will visit Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on Sunday and then participate in the NATO summit in Brussels before another summit with the EU.
His long trip to Europe will culminate next Wednesday in Geneva with his meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Poutine.
“The United States is back!” Said Mr. Biden shortly after arriving in the United Kingdom, echoing the message he has been hammering out since taking office five months ago. “And democracies around the world are united to face the most difficult challenges.”
Source: AFP
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