Tánaiste to meet International Criminal Court prosecutor in Munich

Sat, 17 Feb, 2024 - 01:00

Elaine Loughlin and Ciara Phelan

Tánaiste Micheál Martin is to meet the International Criminal Court's (ICC) prosecutor this weekend ahead of an intervention by the attorney general in a case relating to Israel’s actions in Palestine.

Mr Martin and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are both attending the Munich Security Conference where the crisis in Gaza and the situation in the wider Middle East will be discussed along with Russia’s ongoing illegal war in Ukraine.

Mr Varadkar on Friday night met with King Abdullah of Jordan, a key player in the Middle East region, with both leaders agreeing to speak again in advance of the Taoiseach's visit to the US for St Patrick's Day events.

This is the first time that a taoiseach has attended the conference, which Mr Varadkar said shows "just how seriously we view the current global situation".

He told the conference that Israel is no longer a "normal, liberal, western democracy".

Mr Martin is due to hold meetings with Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi as well as the ICC's prosecutor Karim Khan on the fringes of the conference.

Attorney general intervenes

It comes ahead of Attorney General Rossa Fanning's appearance in the Hague next week, during which he will make an in-person intervention on behalf of Ireland in a case on Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.

This is separate from the genocide case being taken by South Africa against Israel over its recent actions in Gaza.

In Munich on Friday, the Taoiseach said he would like to know more details of suggestions of a deeper defence commitment and talk in recent days of a possible EU defence commissioner by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Mr Varadkar said: “I don’t think she’s proposing a European defence pact or European army or anything like that so it’s important that people don’t misunderstand what she was putting forward.

“I understand she was putting forward a position in the next commission which might be able to co-ordinate some of the things we do in defence on a European level already.

"Ireland is part of certain EU battle groups, we’re a founding member of Pesco which is the European structured security and defence policy, so if it’s in that space, I think there’s merit to it but would need to see the details."

Irish neutrality

Mr Varadkar said Irish neutrality has “evolved” over the years.

He said Ireland will never be a “major military power” but can bring things to the table such as peace-keeping and co-operation at EU level on matters such as cyber-security.

He said it is very clear the EU has stepped up in terms of support for Ukraine and that Ireland needs to be able to co-operate more on issues of defence and security.

“I think we need to see defence as being more than armies but also about other aspects of security too like counter-terrorism, fighting cyber-crime, and also beyond that investing in overseas aid and international development which is a big part of this too.”

On Donald Trump’s comments where he suggested he would tell Russia to attack Nato allies he considered delinquent, Mr Varadkar said Europeans should be prepared for the possibility that the US reverts to isolationism and to be able to deal with issues on our own continent.

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