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Northern Ireland: Port controls will resume after interruption

2021-02-09T19:13:25.657Z


The Brexit controls in Northern Ireland's ports were temporarily paused out of concern for the safety of customs officials. An assessment by the police has now come to the conclusion that the threats are "not credible".


Icon: enlarge

In the port of Belfast, the temporarily suspended food controls are now to be resumed

Photo: Brian Lawless / AP

The interruption of food controls in Northern Irish ports was seen as an alarm signal for increasing tensions in Northern Ireland - now there is at least a partial all-clear.

According to the police, there is no immediate danger for the customs officers in the Northern Irish ports.

As the Northern Irish Ministry of Agriculture announced, the checks are to be carried out again gradually from Wednesday.

The basis is a review of the threat situation by the police in Northern Ireland.

This had classified the threats from graffiti as "not believable".

Both Northern Ireland and the EU Commission had temporarily stopped the inspection of goods last week out of concerns about the safety of the inspectors.

The reason given was "an increase in uncanny and threatening behavior."

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.

Internal checks hold the potential for conflict

The controls in Northern Ireland's ports are intended to prevent goods controls on the inner-Irish border between Northern Ireland and the EU member Ireland.

Otherwise it is feared that the conflict between the predominantly Catholic supporters of a union of the two parts of Ireland and the predominantly Protestant supporters of the union with Great Britain in Northern Ireland will flare up again.

The regulation that was agreed in the Brexit agreement has met with rejection from parts of the Protestant-unionist population.

The necessary formalities, for example, had created difficulties for supermarket chains.

As a result, some food shelves in Northern Ireland remained empty earlier this year.

The EU Commission had exacerbated the tension when, in the dispute over vaccine deliveries, it gave the impression that it would now accept controls at the inner-Irish border.

Icon: The mirror

fek / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-02-09

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