Northern Ireland and EU pull Brexit controllers out of ports

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Out of concern for the safety of customs officers, Brexit controls are temporarily not being carried out in the Northern Irish port of Larne

Photo: Charles McQuillan / Getty Images

Increasing tensions in Northern Ireland have induced the EU Commission and the administration on the British side to take a drastic step.

Concerned for the safety of customs officers in the Northern Irish ports, both sides temporarily withdrew their inspectors.

The reason is an "increase in eerie and threatening behavior in the past few weeks," the Northern Irish area administration announced on Monday evening.

Documents for the import of animals and animal products from Great Britain would initially not be checked by officials, but only digitally.

"In the interests of the well-being" of the employees, the "physical inspections of products of animal origin" will be suspended until further notice.

On Tuesday, the EU Commission also announced that it would temporarily withdraw its own inspectors to comply with the Brexit agreements.

Since Brexit, imports of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, have been subject to customs and certificate controls.

Northern Ireland is tied more closely to the EU through the Brexit agreement and continues to follow the rules of the EU internal market.

The security concerns on the Northern Irish side are apparently also based on intelligence findings.

The politician Peter Johnston of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party told Sky that he had intelligence reports that people noted the license plates of the port workers.

"Tensions have grown," said the Mayor of the Mid & East Antrim Region.

Port workers as "targets"

The Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland "is obviously having a detrimental impact not only on the port of Larne (...) but on the whole of Northern Ireland," said Johnston.

That license plates are noted is "pretty scary".

Most recently, according to the police and administration around the ports in Belfast and Larne, threats were smeared on walls.

Port employees were explicitly named as "targets", reports the AFP news agency.

As far as the Commission is aware, the tensions arose some time ago, the EU Commission also said.

A video conference with British representatives was scheduled for Wednesday.

Dispute over vaccine controls adds to tension

There had recently also been a dispute over export controls for corona vaccines from the EU.

After the EU announced that it would make exports of vaccines subject to licensing in the future, there was speculation about controls on the Irish-Northern Irish border.

Northern Ireland's Prime Minister Arlene Forster then described the Brexit agreement as "unworkable" and called on the government in London to terminate it.

Forster now described the threats against the port workers as "absolutely reprehensible."

According to the EU, there were threats against the port workers even before the dispute over possible vaccine controls.

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fek / dpa / Reuters