U.K.’s Gove Attacks EU After Northern Ireland Vaccine Row
- Brexit protocol not there to ‘salvage’ vaccines for EU: Gove
- Gove, EU’s Sefcovic due to meet on Thursday amid dispute
Michael Gove
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U.K. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove attacked the European Union for risking peace in Northern Ireland after the bloc tried to impose export controls on vaccines to the region and sparked a major diplomatic row.
Gove said the bloc owed member states a fuller explanation of why it briefly tried to invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol -- a move that threatened to revive the prospect of border checks on the island of Ireland. The EU backtracked on its threat within hours.