Responding to the publication of the letter from EU Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič to Michael Gove, Ulster Unionist Party Leader, Steve Aiken OBE MLA, said:
“The letter from EU Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič reeks of arrogance and intransigence. Instead of protecting the Belfast Agreement and defusing tensions, this letter will do the exact opposite.
“My colleagues and I have been warning for days now that further words and actions from the EU like those exhibited on 29 January will cause problems in Northern Ireland, further undermine an already badly damaged Belfast Agreement and drive bigger wedges into relationships across these islands. I am genuinely concerned that the road they are on will cause untold damage to years of hard work.
“That the EU Commission has undertaken today to discuss issues affecting the Belfast Agreement with the Irish Government before releasing statements such as this, raises some equally fundamental questions for the Taoiseach, but more particularly, for Simon Coveney. Either this was released with his approval, which demonstrates he too is tone deaf to the very real issues of the Protocol and the detrimental impact on the Belfast Agreement, or he wasn’t, and this yet again shows that Northern Ireland is being used as a punchbag in the EU`s confrontations with the UK Government.
“The letter also raises more questions for the UK Government. What exactly did they agree to at a meeting of the Joint Committee on 17 December? Detailed minutes of discussions at that meeting and what was agreed must be published to provide badly needed clarity and certainty.”