Biden calls for political peace during Northern Ireland visit

President Joe Biden visited Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he called on politicians to restore peace in the country on Wednesday. Biden’s visit coincides with the 25-year anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed in April 1998 and ended decades of conflict in Northern Ireland. But a trade dispute tied to Brexit has sparked new political tensions in the country. Additional trade checks are now required at the border with Ireland, which is still a member of the European Union, but some worry the checkpoints could threaten the peace agreement.

What solutions have been suggested for the dispute? The United Kingdom and European Union agreed to the Northern Ireland Protocol in January 2021. The protocol requires all goods arriving in Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. to be checked at Northern Irish ports to ensure they meet EU requirements. A new proposal called the Windsor Framework would only require checks on goods destined for EU countries.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Onize Ohikere’s report on how Brexit and COVID-19 reignited sectarian tensions.