Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks to a colleague during a meeting of the German cabinet at the chancellery in Berlin on December 7, 2022. (AFP Photo)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock leaves for a two-day trip to Ireland and Britain on Thursday, with Britain's dispute with Brussels over Northern Ireland among the topics she is expected to address.
She is first due in Dublin where she will discuss cooperation on environmental protection and renewable energies with her Irish counterpart, Simon Coveney. Ireland, an EU member, has a large reservoir of wind power and is considered a possible supplier of green hydrogen.
On Friday, Baerbock plans to meet British Foreign Minister James Cleverly in London, and is expected to discuss Britain's dispute with Brussels over the special Brexit status of Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom.
This status was established in the Northern Ireland Protocol after Britain's departure from the EU, but a long-running dispute is paralysing the formation of a government in the region and feeding tensions between London and Brussels over trade.
The protocol, part of the Brexit agreement, was designed to avoid a border on the island of Ireland and ensure no border controls are needed between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
But some in Northern Ireland who promote close ties with Britain say the agreement impedes trade by placing a border in the Irish Sea.
In Northern Ireland, predominantly Catholic supporters of re-uniting with Ireland and majority Protestant supporters of the union with Britain fought a decades-long civil conflict that cost thousands of lives.
A solution was found through the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, stipulating that the regional government is always formed by the two largest parties of each community.
However, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) wants the Northern Ireland Protocol to be repealed, and is currently refusing to join a government.
