Ireland’s fellow European Union states in eastern Europe, including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, live “in real fear” of Russia and “genuinely” fear invasion, Ireland’s Ambassador to London Martin Fraser has told Irish and British politicians.
Speaking to the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Surrey, Mr Fraser said: “I don’t think it does Ireland any harm to sometimes think about that because we are in a really febrile place on the Continent of Europe.”
There is “an absolute imperative” to increase the European Union’s defensive capacity with cybersecurity, conventional security, defence threats, said Mr Fraser, the former secretary general at the Department of the Taoiseach.
“These are not distant problems, these are very, very, very imminent problems,” said Mr Fraser, adding that eastern European diplomatic colleagues frequently express their profound concerns.
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“And none of this is really in Ireland’s interests. It’s the breakdown of globalisation or increase of military activity or election interference, whatever it might be,” he told the body.
“I see a lot of turbulence outside these islands, particularly in our EU member states, our eastern member states ... in places like Georgia, Moldova andeven closer to home,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Fraser said the Common Travel Area – which offers travel and residency rights to Irish and British citizens to live and work in each other’s countries – has survived 100 years, including the challenges of Brexit.
“And we will keep it into the future,” he said, noting the British Government has recently announced plans to introduce controversial digital ID cards for all British citizens and those living legally in the United Kingdom.
British Minister of State for culture Ian Murray has already come to Dublin to meet Irish counterparts and to Belfast for discussions about the plans: “They did speak to us around the time of that announcement. They have engaged with us.”
However, he warned that the political temperature in the UK on immigration must be understood in the Republic. “It’s very difficult to overemphasise the pressure that migration is putting on British politics at the moment.”
Minister of State for International Development Neale Richmond said there is “something awry” given that just 1 per cent of people in the Republic place security as their highest issue of importance, when this is the most important for many EU states in eastern Europe.
“It’s important for those of us coming from the Irish side to make sure that we make it quite clear we do have friends, we do have allies. And we think those alliances are important,” he told the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly.
Ireland will spend €1.35 billion on defence this year, clearing the way for “significant progress” on military radar and protection of undersea cables, he said.
The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, established in 1990, includes members of the Oireachtas, the Scottish parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the senedd Cymru in Wales, the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.
Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell criticised the lack of Irish defence spending, noting that the State was namechecked in the House of Lords recently for “freeloading” on the security provided by others.
Despite increases in recent years, the Republic will spend little more than €1 billion this year, while Finland, with a similar population and a similar economy, is spending more than €6 billion on defence, he said.
However, Mr Richmond said framing the defence and security debate in the Republic around charges that the State is “freeloading” will not persuade anyone of the need to consider change. “That will just get people’s backs up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dublin Airport immigration controls, which require British citizens to produce a passport in contravention of the Common Travel Area, were criticised by Labour peer Alf Dubs.
