USA: Prime Minister of Ireland and President Biden talked, among others about helping Ukraine

US President Joe Biden and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar spoke on Friday at the White House, including on aid to Ukraine and an agreement between the EU and Great Britain on the status of Northern Ireland after Brexit, the White House reported. In this way, Varadkar continued the tradition of visits by Irish heads of government on St. Patrick.

The White House said in a statement from the meeting that Joe Biden praised Ireland for accepting 80,000. refugees from Ukraine. In turn, before the meeting, Leo Varadkar thanked the US president for his leadership in the defense of Ukraine.

Both also underlined the importance of the recently agreed “Windsor framework”, i.e. an agreement between the EU and the UK on the functioning of Northern Ireland in the conditions of Brexit.

Biden also announced that he would soon visit Ireland and Northern Ireland in connection with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreements ending a period of conflict and instability in Northern Ireland.

Varadkar’s visit was a continuation after a break caused by the pandemic of the tradition of visiting Irish heads of government at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day. Patrick. Last year, then-Prime Minister Michael Martin also came to Washington, but the meeting with Biden did not take place because he was diagnosed with Covid-19.

On this occasion, the holy water in the fountain in front of the White House was colored green on Friday. Biden and Varadkar also attended a luncheon with Irish-born MPs at the Capitol. Biden, who often boasts of his Irish ancestry, has stated that he is “the only Irishman you know who never drank.”

Varadkar, in accordance with a long-standing tradition, will present the US president with a shamrock during a ceremony at the White House.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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