New incidents in Northern Ireland hours after European Union condemned violence and called on protesters to stop

Violence broke out again this Thursday evening in Northern Ireland, a member country of the United Kingdom shaken for a week by major riots, according to the agency. AFP.

The troublemakers fired shells and Molotov cocktails at security forces in the capital Belfast, where canine units and riot police have been deployed.

Hours earlier, the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU), had condemned “in the strongest terms” and called for their cessation. “at once” the acts of violence in Northern Ireland, where the riots of the last seven nights, especially in Belfast, have caused a lot of damage and left hundreds of police officers injured.

We condemn in the strongest terms the acts of violence which have taken place in Northern Ireland in recent days. Nobody has anything to gain from it ”declared the chief spokesperson of the EC, Eric Mamer, during the daily press conference of the institution.

In addition, he asked everyone involved in the riots “Immediately refrain from committing these acts of violence.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Micheal Martin They also called for calm on Thursday after the “unacceptable” violence recorded in Northern Ireland in recent days, in a call similar to that expressed by the leaders of Northern Ireland, both trade unionists and Republicans.

“Stressing that violence is unacceptable, they called for calm,” the Irish Prime Minister’s office said in a statement released after the two leaders spoke by telephone.

“The destruction, violence and threats are totally unacceptable and unjustifiable, regardless of the concerns that exist in the communities,” he said. the self-government of Northern Ireland – made up of trade unionists, republicans and centrists – claiming to be “seriously” concerned. “Although our political positions are very different on many issues, we are all united in our support for law and order,” they added.

The White House he also appealed for calm, declaring himself “concerned” by the violent incidents.

Former Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier also condemned the unrest and stressed that violence “is never a solution”. “I fully support the authorities and political leaders to defuse tensions and restore calm”wrote the French politician on Twitter.

Since last Friday, dozens of people have committed acts of vandalism and clashes with the police every night in Protestant neighborhoods in the region, culminating on Wednesday with the kidnapping and burning of a bus in the city of Belfast and the attack on a press photographer. .

Tensions have been mounting in Northern Ireland since the new Brexit terms came into effect in January, during which a trade border is established between the region and the rest of the UK.

The Protestant-Unionist community considers that this division endangers the province’s relationship with LondonEspecially now that the Catholic nationalist parties have redoubled their efforts to advance the historic goal of reunification of the two Ireland.

Likewise, union discontent peaked last week after authorities decided not to take action against several politicians from Sinn Féin, a former political arm of the dormant Irish Republican Army (IRA), for attending at a funeral in June of last year despite restrictions imposed by the covid pandemic19.

Roadmap received

On the other hand, on March 26, the European Commission assured that it expected “in the coming days” for the United Kingdom to present it. its action plan to implement the rules and requirements of the protocol for Ireland and Northern Ireland as part of the Brexit deal which have not yet been fully satisfied, Brussels has therefore opened a case in London.

On Thursday, the Commission confirmed receipt of the document on March 31 and assured that it was analyzing it. We have said that the UK must provide a credible roadmap with clear results and points on the implementation of the protocol. I can confirm that on March 31st we received a document from the UK called “Draft EU and UK Work Program”. We are now looking into this, ”said community spokesperson Daniel Ferrie.

He also added that Brussels and London are currently maintaining technical contacts, and recalled that the Irish protocol had been agreed to “protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland, protect the Good Friday peace agreement, protect cooperation between north and south and avoid a hard border. “.

“It is now necessary to implement it jointly by both parties. The European Union is ready to find rapid and pragmatic solutions within the framework of the protocol ”, he assured.

On March 3, unilaterally and surprisingly, the British government announced that, regardless of the deal, on April 1 it would not apply customs and border controls to goods from Britain bound for the United Kingdom. British province of Northern Ireland and that he will postpone them for six months, until 1 October.

With information from AFP and EFE

KEEP READING: