Whether an object or nature of the relationship, once something has shattered, it cannot be put back together exactly as it was before, no matter how much work, effort, or time has gone.
Similar seems to be the case with United States and European Union.
The UK and EU’s issues appeared to have been resolved last week as both of them decided to create a new Northern Ireland agreement. Nevertheless, before it comes to pass, the UK and EU appear to return to square one.
For reasons best known to them, the UK apparently cut off Belgium’s gas supplies on March 6th via a pipeline. Gas shipments from the UK to Europe through one of the main pipelines, Interconnector, have been halted, possibly through March 8.
With “severe restrictions” in Russian exports, the pipeline that transports gas to continental Europe via Belgium has grown in importance.
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United Kingdom cited “equipment failure” as the cause for stopping gas shipments to Europe. Bloomberg claims that the reduction in gas imports from the UK began even before the equipment malfunctioned.
This is probably why the EU doesn’t seem to have much faith in the UK’s actions and justification. As a result, the EU also discovered a new rod with which to beat the UK.
The “new migration policy” of the UK was denounced by the EU as an assault on human rights. The European Union cautioned Britain that its crackdown on Channel migrant crossings violated international law.
On Tuesday, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson called British Home Secretary Suella Braverman and accused her of “violating international law” with the U.K.’s refugee policy.
The U.K. bill would “extinguish the right to seek refuge protection” for individuals who come irregularly, “no matter how valid and compelling their claim may be,” the United Nations agency for refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
Johansson, who oversees EU migration and refugee policy as the home affairs commissioner, blamed the UK’s asylum system, which is now plagued by significant backlogs. This happened immediately after the UK cut off Belgium’s gas supply.
EU claims that by using France to help send migrants back to their original countries, the UK is breaking international law.
Migration across the English Channel is mostly a bilateral problem between France and the UK.
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At a France-U.K. summit this Friday in Paris, Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron are scheduled to talk about the issue of cross-Channel boats. In the weekly Prime Ministers’ Questions session on Wednesday, Sunak justified the strategy by stating that “stopping the boats is not just my goal, it’s the people’s priority.”
It seems like despite many attempts to reconcile, tensions are rising again between U.K and EU. This raises doubts whether both will ever settle their differences or not?
