Russia 'not a threat' to Ireland, claims country's ambassador

Yuriy Filatov said that the recent Commission on the Defence Forces seems to imply Ireland is under threat from Russia, but he claimed it is a “misplaced” notion.

Russia is not the “boogeyman” that people want to portray the federation as, according to its ambassador to Ireland.

Yuriy Filatov said that the recent Commission on the Defence Forces seems to imply Ireland is under threat from Russia. But this is, he said, a “misplaced” notion.

He said: “Any unbiased observer would be hard put to find any evidence of such a 'threat'. Attempts to portray Russia as a boogeyman are misplaced and regrettable.” 

He was speaking in light of pressure on the government recently to purchase up to 24 fighter jets as part of a multi-billion euro package to enable the country to counter terrorist hijackings and hostile incursions into our airspace.

The Commission on the Defence Forces report recommends three options as part of a wide-ranging programme of reform of the military. It also says Ireland is ill-equipped to deal with the increasing threats from Islamic and right-wing extremists and the activities of Russia and China.

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The first option looks at maintaining the Defence Forces in its current form but increasing spending by tens of millions of euros on the current budget of €1.1bn. The second option would enable the Defence Forces to hire more people and to purchase the likes of radar equipment and military aircraft.

This would cost about €500m extra annually.

Mr Filatov said: “We believe that the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces of Ireland calls for a brief commentary.

“While the subject of the report is clearly an internal matter for Ireland, one cannot but note an attempt by the Commission to substantiate its conclusions with a notion of a threat, allegedly posed by Russia to the security of Ireland.

“Any unbiased observer would be hard put to find any evidence of such a 'threat'. Attempts to portray Russia as a boogeyman are misplaced and regrettable.” 

He added: “We believe that now is the moment for mature and responsible decisions, which would be based not on political fiction, but on reality, as well as an imperative need for the all-European system of security.”