TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said that Russia is “becoming more reckless” in its continuing war on Ukraine and poses an “existential threat” to the eastern countries in the European Union.
He was speaking at the Dublin offices of business and news platform Bloomberg as part of its EU policy series, with his speech and subsequent Q&A streamed on its website.
His comments come a day after Germany blamed Russia for a “hybrid attack” involving an explosive-laden drone at Leipzig airport last month.
The attack saw German police forced to use a robot to defuse a device near a Ukrainian cargo plane. Another drone was reportedly found weeks later near the airport, also with traces of an explosive substance.
Speaking to Bloomberg this afternoon, Martin said Ireland’s presidency of the EU Council comes “at a very pivotal moment for Europe”.
“The geopolitical situation is very uncertain. It’s complex, it’s very challenging, and the rules-based international order is under threat,” he said.
“So there’s a particular significance attached to the European Union, working with others to endeavour to sustain the multilateral system and an international rules-based order, and a lot of work is underway in that respect.”
He said security is a key pillar for the presidency, adding that there is a real sense across the EU that “we have to do an awful lot more” in terms of security and defence capability.
“It means cooperation. No one will be doing this on their own, and it means sharing intelligence, sharing knowledge across the board, and it means very strong support for Ukraine.”
Criticism of defence spend analysts
He highlighted how much Europe has financially supported Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, with the most recent agreement of €90 billion earlier this year.
Reflecting on a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing earlier this year, Martin said Ukraine “still have enormous gaps in terms of what they require financially to defend themselves, and particularly on the technology side”.
The speech and Q&A was streamed on Bloomberg’s website.
“It brought home to me the enormous cost of this war. It’s just quite staggering in terms of what is occurring. But there’s also a sense within Europe that it must become more self-reliant.
Russia is aggressive, and as we see in Leipzig, to a degree, very reckless as well now, becoming more reckless in terms of what it’s looking at endeavouring to do on the soil of European member states.
Martin said Europe can’t ignore this reality and hit out at analyses he had read that said Europe was “doing business for rearming its military-industrial complex”, adding that the bloc has “a lot of gaps” when it comes to its own security and defence capability.
“There’s a real sense in Europe, particularly on the eastern flank, an existential sense that they’re under threat from an aggressive Russia, and that if Ukraine was to fall, others are next. That’s the reality.
“People of this part of the world may not have that same sense of existential threat, but believe me, when you meet Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Polish, Finnish and others, it’s there and it’s very, very real. And it’s a bit disconcerting that some analysts, from maybe particular perspectives, refuse to acknowledge that reality.”
Martin also spoke about the other two underpinning Ireland’s presidency of the EU council: competitiveness and values.
“We want our presidency to deliver tangible improvements to people in their daily lives and to businesses as they work in trade across the single market.”
He said there is an opportunity over the next few months to deliver on a roadmap for making the bloc more competitive, which will prioritise further simplifying rules and reducing regulatory and administrative burdens and harmful barriers to trade.
Budget
Another item on the agenda, which Martin is hopeful will be at conclusion stage by the end of the year, is “the savings and investment union”.
“It’s the idea of unleashing the potential of Europe’s savings to be used for the benefit of businesses, communities, and families in every part of Europe, also really increasing the level of capital available to businesses in Europe.”
There will also be a focus on accelerating decarbonisation while ensuring affordable energy and “driving the digital and AI transformation”, he added.
Martin also said ministers would have to find “a landing zone” for the 2028-2034 European budget in the coming months.
One of the key aims of Ireland’s EU presidency is to agree the long-term budget, known as the multiannual financial framework (MFF), before the end of the year.
The Taoiseach said there are “huge issues”.
“Quite a number of what we call the frugal states believe the budget is too high, and they want to reduce it. Others want to make sure we maintain the Commission’s draft in respect of cap and cohesion, which are established pillars of the union.”
He said there had been “a lot of shadowboxing up to now”, but that the challenge now is how to guide negotiations “so that it creates a realistic framework for people to say, ‘well, actually, game on now’.”
“I’m not saying I’m enjoying that work, but it’s kind of interesting getting the different positions of 27 other member states, and trying to figure out where we land this and how do we get to a position where we think we can bring it to a conclusion.”