BoJo to Visit Belfast for Key Talks Amid Escalating UK-EU Tensions Over Northern Ireland Protocol

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to make an emergency visit to Belfast amid the escalating tensions over the Northern Ireland (NI) protocol, which worsened after the unionist DUP party blocked the election of a speaker at Stormont.The Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein last week overran the DUP in the Northern Ireland Assembly election for the first time, prompting unionists to warn they will boycott the new government unless post-Brexit trade rules with the EU are addressed.On Friday, The Independent cited Sinn Fein first minister designate Michelle O’Neill as saying that she was expecting Johnson in Northern Ireland on Monday, when she will tell him to “stop pandering to the DUP,” in other words, refusing to join a power-sharing executive while the NI protocol is in place.She argued that Northern Ireland was being used as “a pawn in the middle of a battle between the British government and the EU”, but insisted that the protocol was “here to stay”.

Dublin Tells London to Stop Playing the ‘Tough Guy’ Over Northern Ireland Protocol 12 November 2021, 11:50 GMT Downing Street has yet to confirm BoJo’s visit and if it does, “it is understood that the PM will focus on talks with the Northern Irish parties to try to get power-sharing arrangements back on track”, according to the Independent.‘Influential’ Members of US Congress to Visit UK Over Northern Ireland Protocol Concerns: Report Yesterday, 05:58 GMT Brussels accused London of issuing “threats and blackmail” after British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic that the UK would have “no choice but to act” if the EU does not give in to demands to scale back customs checks.