Northern Ireland Minister Conor Burns and a close ally of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said some US politicians were at risk of escalating violence in the province in their public statements on the protocol. Johnson’s decision has sparked outrage in Dublin and Brussels and now threatens to create a rift between London and Washington, where senior Democrats and Republicans have criticized the UK government. Several members of Congress have issued statements warning of the consequences of a breach of the Northern Ireland Protocol, with some arguing that Johnson is jeopardizing the entire peace process. Burns said, however, that he believed the language itself would encourage those who wanted to undermine the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Speaking to the Financial Times in Washington, D.C., he said: “There is a lot of lazy talk here that what we are doing with the protocol is endangering or endangering peace.” He added: “Everyone must be very restrained in their use of language. “Remember that voices can resonate and can encourage people who do not have the interests of stability, calm and order in the heart.” Johnson released his proposals, which would pass most checks on goods traveling from Britain to Northern Ireland to the ports of the Irish Sea on Monday night. The new legislation would overturn the compromise reached by the prime minister himself with Brussels in 2020, which was designed to allow the UK to leave the EU without creating a harsh border on the island of Ireland.

The British ministers hope that the renegotiation of the protocol will allow the Democratic Union Party to return to the power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland after the election victory of the nationalist Sinn Fein last month. But Johnson’s decision was criticized by Dublin, Brussels, and even some within his own party. The EU has threatened financial retaliation, prompting Johnson to warn Brussels not to start a trade war. The new proposals have also caused a stir in Washington, where many politicians speak proudly of their Irish descent. A group of representatives of the bipartisan Congressional Friends of Ireland group issued a statement on Tuesday warning: “The introduction of legislation in the United Kingdom undermines the Northern Ireland Protocol, threatens international law and, most importantly, could jeopardize nearly 25 years of peace established by the Good Friday Agreement “. Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Johnson’s decision “an irresponsible move that threatens 24 years of peace.” Johnson sent Burns, a Belfast-born Catholic, to flutter his wings in Washington to make sure members of Congress and the Biden administration were aware of the British government’s decision-making process. Democrats in Congress had previously warned they would block a UK-US trade deal if the British government snatched the protocol. Although such an agreement now looks like a distant prospect, these warnings have been rarer in recent days. Burns said he believed many in the US government had agreed with the United Kingdom on the need for an agreement following negotiations between London and Brussels. However, he urged members of Congress to be “incredibly careful and prudent in their use of language.” “There is nothing to suggest to me that regulating the movement of goods across our country should jeopardize the 24 and a few years of a transformed Northern Ireland,” he said. Despite Burns’ efforts, the US government continued to condemn the British move. Kathryn Tai, the US Trade Representative, met in Geneva on Tuesday with Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the UK Secretary of Commerce, on the sidelines of the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference. The USTR said that “they discussed the Northern Ireland Protocol, which the US welcomed as a way of managing the practical challenges of maintaining separate EU and UK markets, while preventing the return of customs infrastructure to the land border. “Ambassador Tai stressed the importance of continuing the good faith negotiations between the United Kingdom and the EU to find practical solutions for its implementation. “It reiterated its strong US support for maintaining the political and economic gains of the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement.” Additional report by Andy Bounds in Geneva