During his visit, the President of the United States celebrates the 25th anniversary of the peace agreement in Northern Ireland. From Belfast, Biden continues his journey to the Republic of Ireland, where he has family roots.
13:40•Updated 14:01
Biden has started a meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the capital of Northern Ireland. At first, the leaders drank coffee.
Today he will also meet with Northern Ireland’s political leadership and give a speech at the new campus of Ulster University. You can follow the talk later in this article.
Biden’s four-day visit to Belfast coincides with the celebration of the Northern Ireland peace agreement. The Good Friday Agreement was signed 25 years ago, on April 10, 1998.
The purpose of the trip is also to promote trade relations between Northern Ireland and the United States.
Biden is expected to praise Northern Ireland’s development in his speech.
The visit is overshadowed by political tensions
The Good Friday Agreement ended 30 years of violence between Protestant unionists who supported British rule and Catholic republicans who wanted to join Ireland. However, political dividing lines are still visible.
Just a day before Biden’s visit, a group of masked people attacked a police car with firebombs in Londonderry, which is located near the border with the Republic of Ireland. The attack was carried out during an illegal republican march.
There is intermittent violence in Northern Ireland, driven by opponents of the peace deal. Tensions have been increased by Brexit, which resulted in the initiation of customs inspections between Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain. The border between Ireland and Northern Ireland remained open.
Protestant unionists oppose a border at sea. An attempt has been made to resolve the dispute between the EU and Britain with the so-called Windsor Agreement. However, it has not been implemented.
Because of the disputes, the regional parliament of Northern Ireland has been unable to function for more than a year while the unionist party DUP boycotted it. The regional parliament elections were won last year for the first time by the pro-republican Sinn Fein party.
Biden is already traveling to the Republic of Ireland today, where he will spend several days and meet, among other things, his distant relatives.
The news is updated.