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The chemistry between them was evident. Von der Leyen addressed her remarks not to the journalists who asked them, but to Sunak, whom at one stage she called “dear Rishi”.
Sunak returned the warmth, welcoming her to Britain on social media before their final handshake in Windsor, Berkshire, where he praised her “vision in recognising the possibility of a new way forward”.
Von der Leyen and Sunak deserve credit for pulling off a feat that had eluded three previous British prime ministers. Boris Johnson, who claimed the “best way forward” was to rip up the existing Irish border agreement with the EU, might still try to use the agreement to tear down his leadership rival. But Sunak has, so far, achieved something Johnson couldn’t.
Sunak and von der Leyen rose to the occasion, negotiating with each other as serious and trusted equals.
The European Union showed enormous goodwill, giving ground and granting concessions to preserve Northern Ireland’s unique status as a member of the United Kingdom’s trading market while maintaining the unique border it shares with Ireland.
And that status is hardly symbolic. Rooted in the Good Friday Agreement (or the Belfast Agreement), the sacrosanctness of an indivisible border, or the “delicate balance”, as Sunak put it, was about preserving peace.
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Had the two sides not been able to settle their differences, they could have prompted the reinstatement of a hard border across Ireland that could have put at risk the historic agreement.
With that would come fears of a return to the bloody violence of the past.
But there has been no greater force uniting Britain and the EU for the past year than the goal of preserving peace.
Sunak used this to sell the breakthrough to those hardline Brexit MPs who might have opposed the deal. They have so far either been quiet, or supportive.
Britain has now, finally, emerged from its post-Brexit funk and the dividends will be many. Joe Biden had been pushing for an end to the impasse between Britain and Brussels and the resolution, which he endorsed, allows the US President to travel to the island to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement in April.
This new agreement, though, will not just resolve the real and pressing dysfunctional trading arrangements that existed in Northern Ireland. European allies may find it easier to help Britain on thorny issues that require EU cooperation, like small boat crossings across the Channel.
And further cooperation is possible, as the EU and Britain plan for a future where they no longer depend on authoritarian regimes to keep their citizens fed and warm.
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