William James et Philip Blenkinsop

LONDON / BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The governments of London and Dublin clashed on Twitter on Sunday following comments by British negotiator David Frost.

“The real question is: should an agreement negotiated by the British government go ahead or make relations worse,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coweny wrote on Twitter.

The question received a response from David Frost, who said on Twitter that he did not want to open talks, dismissing the Irish foreign minister’s arguments, indicating that London had long been concerned about the role of European justice in the process. .

David Frost on Saturday unveiled excerpts from a speech he will deliver next week, in which he claims that oversight of compliance with Northern Irish protocol is no longer the responsibility of European justice.

Boris Johnson’s government has been urging the European Union for months to reconsider the terms of the “Northern Irish Protocol”, which created a real customs border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He is a member of the Community Bloc, Republic of Ireland.

Britain threatened the European Union on Monday that it would take unilateral action under Article 16 of the Brexit agreement if it did not approve changes that would make the trade with Ireland more fluid.

(Report by William James of London and Philip Blenkinsop of Brussels; French edition by Nicholas Delam)