7 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The White House has confirmed this Friday that the President of the United States, Joe Biden, will visit Belfast on April 11 and 12 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended 30 years of violent conflict in Northern Ireland. .
On the eve, the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, stated that Biden’s short visit does not respond to “impoliteness”. His comments came after former Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt lamented that the US president did not include a visit to Stormont on his agenda.
For his part, the Irish Foreign Minister, Micheál Martin, described the visit as “positive”. “He is very committed to the peace process, the Good Friday Agreement, and particularly focused on the potential for economic development,” he said, according to the newspaper ‘Belfast Telegraph’.
The invitation came during a conversation between King Carlos III and Biden, in which the US president conveyed to the monarch his intention to attend his coronation in May, according to the Sky News chain.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak already announced in March that he would invite President Biden, who is of Irish descent, to Belfast for the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
