BRUSSELS, April 8 (Xinhua) — The European Commission on Thursday strongly condemned the violence in Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence that have occurred in Northern Ireland over the past days. Nobody has anything to gain from this. We call on all those involved to refrain immediately from these violent acts,” declared the commission’s chief spokesperson Eric Mamer on Twitter.
Leaders of Britain and Ireland also called for an end to the riots. “The way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“I utterly condemn the violent attacks on police, a journalist, and bus driver over recent days in The North. Now is the time for the two Governments and leaders on all sides to work together to defuse tensions and restore calm,” tweeted Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin.
The Northern Ireland Executive also said Thursday that it is “gravely concerned” by the recent riots in the region in which more than 50 police officers have been injured.
Riots erupted last week in Belfast, Northern Ireland between nationalists, loyalists and the police over the Northern Ireland Protocol, a post-Brexit trading arrangement which they claim has created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain.
The latest development followed several nights of unrest in loyalist communities amid tensions over the Protocol within the Brexit deal between Britain and the European Union.
The Protocol, as an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement, was ratified by both the European Union (EU) and Britain and has been in force since Feb. 1, 2020.
“The protocol was agreed to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland, to protect the Good Friday and Belfast agreement, to protect North-South cooperation, to avoid a hard border,” said European Commission spokesperson for EU-UK relations Daniel Ferrie.
On March 31, the European executive arm received a draft UK-EU work program from the UK, following the bloc’s request to be provided with “a credible roadmap with clear deliverables and milestones for the implementation of the protocol,” said Ferrie.
The document is currently being reviewed by the European Commission, and contacts at the technical level have been established between the two parties, he added.
