[ad_1]
The French government has warned Boris Johnson against any involvement at the Irish border after the new British prime minister called for the abandonment of the security post.
Amelie de Montchalin, French Minister for European Affairs, said the two sides should avoid "games, gestures and provocations" within three months of the date on which the UK must leave the EU.
Speaking alongside his Irish counterpart, Helen McEntee, during a visit to the Irish border, De Montchalin said that French President Emmanuel Macron would have talks with Johnson in France in the United States. next weeks.
She said that there was a "solidarity" with Ireland and reiterated that the withdrawal agreement was "the best we have" and that it would not be renegotiated.
De Montchalin said: "As you know, France has a simple approach to a very complex problem. It is a decision of the United Kingdom that must again be resolved by UK decisions. It is not in Brussels, it is not in Paris, it is not in Dublin that we can decide for the British how they want to go ahead with the process that they opened with the referendum.
"If the UK wants to leave and if it wants to go in an orderly way, the best we have is the negotiated agreement, which has taken years and detailed work to come up with what we have found is the best of two parts.
She continued, "What remains to be negotiated is future relations. We need to create a working relationship and not get into games, gestures and provocations. "
Johnson had said earlier this week that he would not agree to an agreement containing "undemocratic" Irish support, the agreement that would keep Northern Ireland under market regulation unique and all of the UK on a customs territory shared with the EU until an alternative solution. can be found to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
The Prime Minister ordered Michael Gove to lead the effort to speed up preparations for an exit without agreement this fall if Brussels refused to yield on the issue.
De Montchalin however added that the addition of red lines, such as the October 31st release date of the "do or die", "only created diplomatic tensions".
In Brussels, it is increasingly thought that Johnson does not intend to negotiate with the EU, but rather tries to leave without any agreement, on the understanding that Parliament will block it and that it will be necessary to trigger general elections.
Earlier in the day, one of the architects of the agreement on Good Friday 1998, the former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, said he was concerned about the danger of a "rainy day". an exit without accidental agreement with potentially serious repercussions for peace.
He said, "I think we should all avoid trying to find simplistic solutions that all of this can be done simply by waving your hand or a stroke of a pen.
"It's complex, it's difficult, it's new, and I think setting a deadline is not brilliant, and I'm not saying it any harder than that … I just do not see how point a calendar as tight – [it’s] Nothing to do with determination, skills, abilities, or anything – just to wrap up a whole new deal, it's very hard to see how this can be done before Halloween. "
On Thursday, Johnson clashed with Jean-Claude Juncker, outgoing president of the European Commission, after asking for a renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier also warned that Downing Street's calls were "unacceptable".
Source link
