Baerbock stresses partnership with London and Dublin despite Brexit

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has underlined the importance of Germany's partnership with Britain as well as with EU member Ireland, despite the problems caused by Brexit.
"We are close partners and friends," the minister said in Berlin before departing for a visit to Ireland and Britain on Thursday.
Referring to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, she added that "we are proving to Putin the power of shared values and our determination to defend them even in stormy seas."
Baerbock was scheduled to meet her Irish opposite number Simon Coveney in Dublin on Thursday.
On Friday, a meeting with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is planned in London. This meeting will take place within the framework of a so-called "strategic dialogue," a format was agreed upon in order to maintain close ties and concrete cooperation even after Britain's departure from the EU in 2020.
For Britain and Ireland, Brexit was a special turning point because of the division of the island of Ireland, said Baerbock. It was only in 1998 that the Good Friday Agreement brought peace to Northern Ireland after more than 30 years of bloody conflict. The fact that Catholics and Protestants could once again live in good neighbourly relations "must not be put at risk under any circumstances," she said.
Britain's dispute with Brussels over the special Brexit status of Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, will be a key element of her discussions with the British foreign secretary on Friday.
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. However, the largest Unionist faction, the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party), wants the Northern Ireland Protocol to be repealed, and is currently refusing to join Northern Ireland's devolved government.