Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s recent call on Taoiseach Simon Harris to support the development of an EU air defence system was just the latest signal that Ireland needs to begin an honest assessment of our traditional neutrality in the rapidly changing European security environment.
The repeated statements by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste that Ireland’s unequivocal support for Ukraine does not amount to any change in Ireland’s neutrality is no longer good enough. We are clearly not neutral in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and we need to face the full implications of that.
The remaining vestige of neutrality is that we do not provide direct military support to Ukraine, but the provision of more than €200 million in humanitarian aid to that beleaguered country and the welcome given to more than 100,000 Ukrainians is a potent expression of where Ireland stands in the conflict. We are also net contributors to the EU budget and so, by extension, we are helping to fund military assistance being provided to Ukraine.
It is about time that the Government parties were honest with the electorate about the need to finally face our responsibilities and be clear and unequivocal that we will provide any form of assistance required to a fellow EU member state that comes under attack.
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Rory Montgomery, a leading diplomat who played a key role in Ireland’s successful Brexit negotiating strategy, pointed out in a letter to this newspaper earlier in the year that the Treaty of the European Union states clearly: “If a member state is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other Member States shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power.”
[ Irish neutrality has changed but it is too early to consider it dead and buriedOpens in new window ]
In Ireland’s case this obligation is qualified by the guarantee given to us before the second Lisbon Treaty referendum that we are not required to offer assistance. However, we do need to ask ourselves if we could in conscience refuse to offer all practicable aid, including military assistance, if a small EU state like Latvia or Estonia is attacked.
The other side of the equation is whether we would expect military assistance from other EU states if we were subject to an outside attack. In the past that might have appeared a very remote prospect, given our geographical location, but with the Russian navy lurking off our shores and our recent experience of cyber attacks, that is no longer the case.
It seems that we expect to be protected by our neighbours in the event of a serious attack on our sovereignty but we are not prepared to contemplate providing reciprocal assistance to any of them if they are attacked. The obvious double standards involved have not gone unnoticed in other EU countries, even if they do not say it openly.
It was noticeable that the Taoiseach did not give any immediate response to Tusk’s call for support in the push for an EU air defence system. He was probably caught on the hop by the request, but it should prompt the development of a coherent policy instead of repeating the mantra about the sacredness of Irish neutrality.
When Ireland needed the support of our EU neighbours during the Brexit negotiations, it was forthcoming in spades – even though the issue had little or no relevance for many of them
Given the crucial role Tusk played as president of the European Council in defending Irish interests during the Brexit talks, he surely deserves a clear and unequivocal response from the Government in Dublin to his push for the development of an EU air defence system.
When Ireland needed the support of our EU neighbours during the Brexit negotiations, it was forthcoming in spades – even though the issue had little or no relevance for many of them. That surely imposes some moral obligation on us to reciprocate.
Another reason Irish policymakers need to move is that the EU is now developing a defence framework. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated in a recent speech that “we Europeans need to have the means to defend and protect ourselves and deter any possible adversaries”.
She argued that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had taught Europeans a serious lesson about the need to increase defence spending and that the EU had to build up its military and industrial capabilities. She has followed that up with a commitment to appoint a commissioner for defence in her new team.
Another development is the proposal in Mario Draghi’s long-awaited report on EU competitiveness for a European defence industrial strategy. How will we respond to that if it becomes a policy plank of the new commission?
Successive opinion polls have shown that a clear majority of voters are in favour of Ireland being involved in EU defence, but the Government seems paralysed by fear of the inevitably noisy objections of the vocal neutrality lobby. It is about time that mainstream parties developed some backbone and started an honest dialogue with the electorate about the reality of the international security situation. There is a real danger that if we don’t face up to the doublethink about neutrality ourselves, others will lose their patience and force us to do so in ways we really won’t like.