EU: There can be no justification for threats to Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland officials have suspended inspections of some food products of animal origin under the Northern Ireland Protocol to the EU-UK Brexit Agreement, following “increased threats” in recent weeks.

Political controversy over the protocol escalated on Friday when the European Commission proposed, but soon withdrew, a document that threatened to start controlling imports of vaccines from the EU to the UK on the basis of a treaty.

But European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said there could be no justification for the threats of violence, arguing that an unpleasant atmosphere had emerged even before Brussels mistakenly threatened to initiate Article 16.

“Whatever the reason, threats of violence are simply unacceptable. You must stop immediately. Do not look for excuses. You have to be very clear,” Mamer said.

“Secondly, the information that we have received shows that this situation actually happened some time ago, therefore, even before the events you mentioned. Therefore, I think it is quite clear that the threats started before the discussion about Article 16 ”, he added.

Mr Mamer said that European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič would hold a video conference on Wednesday with his British counterpart, Michael Gove, and Northern Ireland leaders to discuss the issue.

“It is clear that the safety of our staff in Northern Ireland is as important as anyone else working in Northern Ireland to implement the Withdrawal Agreement,” he said.

“We asked you not to do so today. We will continue to monitor the situation and act accordingly,” he added.

The European Commission previously said that workers at two border posts in Northern Ireland were ordered to stop working on Tuesday after “threats of violence” led regional authorities to withdraw workers from ports.

The Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs announced late Monday that inspections of animal foods at the ports of Belfast and Larne had been suspended “to ensure the welfare of the workers.”

In the port of Larna, local authorities have dropped 12 cases of “malicious and threatening behavior” in recent weeks. The strict line juniors are to blame for this situation.

Local authorities have indicated that graffiti linked to tensions by port inspections has been found, identifying dock workers as “targets.”

The Northern Irish media reported implicit attempts to collect information about the personnel conducting the inspections, such as the numbers on their cars. Such intimidation has revived memories of the riots in Northern Ireland decades before 1994.