There Won't Be Any Hard Border in Ireland Applied by Britain, UK Foreign Secretary Raab Says

The Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement, was reached on 10 April 1998. It was a peace agreement between the British and Irish governments, and most of the political parties in Northern Ireland, on how Northern Ireland should be governed.

The 1998 peace agreement is not at risk from the UK's move to leave the European Union, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told CNN on Thursday.

"The Good Friday agreement is not in jeopardy ... We've been crystal clear all along, we're committed to it," Raab said.

According to the minister, London wants to "resolve the issues" with European partners. Mr Raab added that "there is not going to be any hard border, certainly not applied by the UK."

This comes after the Internal Market Bill passed the House of Commons on Tuesday, despite critics' warnings that in case the bill was adopted it could undermine the Good Friday Agreement. 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented the Internal Market Bill earlier this month, saying that it was seeking to scale back some of the country's obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement which have to do with state aid and customs checks on the Irish border.  Johnson added that the new legislation was aimed at protecting the UK's integrity.

The UK and the EU have long been engaged in negotiations on their post-Brexit trade relations but no breakthrough has been achieved so far. Last week, Johnson said that the sides will have to agree on a free trade deal until 15 October and if not, both sides will have to "move on" without one.