Greetings! I’m Cristina Gallardo, POLITICO’s foreign affairs and defense reporter in the U.K., where the top event this week is the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which put an end to decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reasons to be chippy, after welcoming U.S. President Joe Biden in Belfast Tuesday night and in February solving a long-running dispute with Brussels and Dublin over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland. But on the ground in Northern Ireland, there are reasons for concern. I’ll explain why below. NORTHERN IRELAND VISIT BIDEN JOINS THE PARTY. Biden, who will spend a total of four days in the island of Ireland, touched down in Belfast last night, where he was welcomed by Sunak on the tarmac. The pair met for a coffee Wednesday morning before Biden began his speech marathon. SPEECHES GALORE. The U.S. president gave a speech today at Ulster University in Belfast. On Thursday, he will address both houses of the Irish parliament in Dublin at 2 p.m. local time. And on Friday he will address the public outside St. Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina, County Mayo, at around 9 p.m. local time. TOP OF BIDEN’S AGENDA. Restoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland is Biden’s main goal. Senior government sources quoted by the i newspaper briefed that Biden’s visit was expected to come with significant investment offers, but as the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party’s boycott of power-sharing continues, the U.S. president instead pointed toward the potential for economic cooperation in the future — in a gentle push to encourage unionists to accept the Windsor Framework, Sunak’s deal on post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland. RECAP. The Good Friday / Belfast Agreement’s central tenet, that power in the region should be shared by British unionists and Irish nationalists, is in tatters. The region has been ruled by civil servants for months after the main pro-British party, the DUP, abandoned the power-sharing regional executive and the Stormont assembly. GET BACK TO WORK. In his speech today, Biden said that Brexit had resulted in “complex challenges” in Northern Ireland but he believed the Windsor Framework was an “essential step” forward which will help to “preserve and strengthen” the Good Friday Agreement. He issued a direct plea to Northern Ireland's political leaders to restore power-sharing and predicted that the size of the region’s economy could “more than triple” over the next few years as “scores” of U.S. companies want to invest there. In his own words. “I hope it’s not too presumptuous for me to say that I believe democratic institutions established in the Good Friday Agreement remain critical for the future of Northern Ireland,” he said. “It’s a decision for you to make, not for me to make. But it seems to me ... that effective devolved government that reflects the people of Northern Ireland and is accountable to them, a government that works to find ways through hard problems together, is going to draw even greater opportunities for the region.” GOOD LUCK. Unionist politicians have not been shy this week about their views on Biden, with senior DUP members accusing him of wanting Irish reunification and being “anti-British.” TODAY’S HEADLINE. The U.S. president will have time to meet the leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main political parties individually, POLITICO White House reporter Adam Cancryn was told on board of the Air Force One. But Biden will spend less than a day in Belfast before skipping south across the border to the Republic of Ireland. ON SUNAK’S RADAR. The Biden and Sunak administrations are edging toward a narrow trade pact on critical minerals — used to make everything from electric vehicles to solar panels, flatscreen TVs and pacemakers. NOT TO MISS. For the very best podcast on the 25th anniversary of the peace agreement, listen to our latest edition of Westminster Insider with my colleague Ailbhe Rea. The podcast features interviews with former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and ex Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. And my colleague Shawn Pogatchnik has more on why the Good Friday / Belfast Agreement is failing. UKRAINE WAR US DATA LEAK. The White House’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has floated concerns that more leaks of highly classified documents concerning the Ukraine war could add to the scores already available online, which have led to questions from some close allies, including South Korea. There, President Yoon Suk Yeol has sought to downplay the disclosures and defend Seoul’s alliance with Washington, as top U.S. officials work behind the scenes to reverse the damage. What they show. In summary, the documents detail training and equipment schedules to support Ukraine, assessments of losses, the paltry state-of-play of Ukraine’s air defenses, risks posed by China to U.S. security, and the U.S. monitoring of key allies and partners. Global reach. The leaked cables note that South Korea’s National Security Council in early March floated concerns over a U.S. request that Seoul supply artillery ammunition to Ukraine … reveal that Egypt secretly planned to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia … claim Serbia agreed to supply arms to Kyiv or has sent them already … list four “wild card” scenarios that could affect the course of the war … Breathe… The leaked documents also suggest that Turkey was approached by the pro-Kremlin Wagner Group of mercenaries to help procure weapons and equipment for its campaigns in Mali and Ukraine … and say that Wagner Group associates had plans as of late February to visit Haiti to assess the potential for a government contract to fight gangs. UK PUSHES FOR ACCELERATED SUPPORT. Meanwhile, Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will join his G7 counterparts in Japan Saturday, where he’s expected to call for sustained and accelerated support for Ukraine; seek trade and investment opportunities in the Pacific region, and advocate the need to engage meaningfully and immediately with countries outside the G7 who might become future powers, according to a U.K. official. MAKING WAVES IN BERLIN. A leaked letter revealed that Germany’s land forces would not be able to fulfill their commitment to NATO, Bild newspaper reported Tuesday.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment