Listen to the news

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson is a British politician - born on June 19, 1964 in New York. His paternal great-grandfather will be in Northern Ireland on Monday to try to end the political stalemate that hinders the establishment of a regional administration. the Associated Press reported. 

The trip comes amid threats from the Johnson government to break the Brexit agreement with the European Union.

According to London, the EU is to blame for the crisis.

This month, Northern Ireland voted in a parliamentary election that was won by the Irish nationalist Sinn Féin party.

For the first time, a party seeking an alliance with the Republic of Ireland has won elections in the bastion of the Protestant Unionist government, the AP notes.

The Democratic Unionist Party remained in second place, refusing to form a government or even allow the legislature to sit until the Johnson government lifted Brexit checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom.

According to the rules for sharing power, created as part of the peace process in Northern Ireland, a government cannot be formed without the cooperation of the nationalist and unionist parties, the AP reminds.

Johnson will call on political leaders in Belfast to return to work and address issues such as the sharp rise in the cost of living, his office said Sunday.

They said he would also accuse the EU of refusing to back down on border checks and warn that Britain would "have to act" unless the bloc changes its position.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a border with the EU.

When Britain left the bloc in 2020, an agreement was reached to keep the Irish land border free of customs and other checks, as an open border is a key pillar of the peace process that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.

Britain has rejected EU proposals to settle a trade dispute over Northern Ireland

Instead, there are inspections of certain goods, such as meat and eggs, which enter Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom.

The union is opposed by unionists in Northern Ireland, who say the new checks are straining businesses and severing ties between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

The British government acknowledges that the provisions destabilize the peace agreement in Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom has said it could pass a law allowing it to disregard parts of the Brexit treaty if the EU does not agree to lift the checks.

If that happens, the EU will retaliate with legal action and possibly trade sanctions, the AP said.

The bloc of 27 countries is Britain's largest economic partner, the agency reminds. 

Boris Johnson

Northern Ireland