EU leaders meet amid recent airspace violations blamed on Russia

Good morning.

EU leaders meet in Copenhagen today for an “informal” summit hosted by the Danish EU presidency to discuss the issues that hang over everything the EU does these days: Europe’s efforts to step up its common defence and the war in Ukraine.

In his letter to EU leaders inviting them to Copenhagen, the head of the council, Antonio Costa, told them: “Russia’s recent airspace violations in Poland and Romania are a stark reminder that we must accelerate and deepen our efforts.”

In addition, Denmark saw military bases and airports disrupted by drones in the last week, suspected to be the work of Russian agents, and has temporarily banned all civilian drones, calling in assistance from Sweden and France. Among the issues the leaders will discuss is the plan for an EU “drone wall”.

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There is growing fear among EU countries that Russia is stepping up its hostilities – prompting the view that only clear political will allied to military strength will prevent further escalations. In an interview with the Financial Times today, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen warns that Russian drone provocations are “only the beginning”.

Perched on the Atlantic seaboard, 3,000 kilometres away from the war in Ukraine, it’s sometimes easy to forget how real the Russian threat is for the small EU member states that border Russia and also increasingly for the countries of central Europe. But it is something they never forget about.

There is also a growing awareness of Russian hybrid actions, such as cyber attacks, directed at these countries. In this context, there is an expectation that all countries will dramatically step up their defence preparations, and their contribution to common European defence.

Irish diplomats still insist that documents and joint statements carry a reference to respecting the position of certain member states, a nod to Irish neutrality. The reality is that Ireland is increasingly expected to play its part in cyber security and maritime defence. Nobody thinks we have been doing so in the past.

Europe Correspondent Jack Power will be reporting for us from Copenhagen.

Departmental disagreements over budget spend

At home, focus is shifting towards next week’s budget, which makes our lead story this morning.

As of yesterday, no department had yet agreed its budgetary settlement with the Department of Public Expenditure – which is leaving it late, even by the standards of budget-making.

There are fierce disagreements between several of the big-spending departments (and some of the small-spending departments) and DPER, likely to be thrashed out at ministerial level in the coming days.

Most Ministers are fully supportive of Paschal Donohoe and Jack Chambers’s determination to exercise some prudence and limit the increases in public spending – but for everyone else, not for themselves. It was ever thus.

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In presidential news, all three camps professed themselves delighted at Monday night’s debate, which is great to see. Gerard Howlin was less impressed.

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There was a late change to the Dáil agenda yesterday, when all parties agreed to have statements on the flotilla bound for Gaza. Marie O’Halloran’s report is here.

There’s another three-and-a-half hours of statements on Gaza today. The Seanad had two hours of statements on Gaza last Thursday. The Oireachtas certainly can’t be accused of ignoring the issue, that’s for sure.

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Overnight news from the United States: the government has run out of money and shut down. This is not a joke. Keith Duggan reports.

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Playbook

With the Taoiseach heading for Denmark, Big Jim O’Callaghan gets another slot at Leaders’ Questions this morning. As mentioned above, there’s statements on Gaza in the afternoon, following by statements on “the Positive Effect on the Sporting Landscape through the use of the Sports Capital Programme, Large Scale Sporting Infrastructure Fund and the Major Events Programme” – which many TDs care about almost as much as Gaza. The weekly votes (actually, there’s only one) is at 8.10pm and the Dáil adjourns at the civilised hour of 8.40pm.

The committee stage of the Defamation Bill is back in the Seanad, while at the committees there’s a long and busy day in store, the highlight of which is the appearance of Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and HSE chief Bernard Gloster at the health committee to discuss “waiting lists for hospital treatment, and insourcing and outsourcing of treatment” – which could be spicy. We’ll keep an eye on it for you.

Full details of all the committees are here.

Elsewhere the presidential candidates are on the campaign trail, while the Social Democrats unveil their alternative budget.