Britain and Russia are enemies in Ukraine — but both want to disrupt Europe

The Northern Ireland protocol row shows the similarities between two former imperial powers intent on regaining lost glory, writes Caroline de Gruyter

The UK government and Prime Minister Boris Johnson's rejection of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which it negotiated, voted on and signed into international law, has it behaving more like Russia than a western democracy. Picture: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

The British government has taken the first steps to unravel its agreement with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Many Europeans are baffled by this. How can the government — which not only signed this legal agreement but negotiated it “word by word, comma by comma”, to quote the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier — just tear up a binding international treaty that only came into force last year?

But surprised, they are not. Not really. Because in its relationship with the EU, Britain is increasingly starting to behave like Russia — by unilaterally creating facts on the ground.