War in Ukraine 'threatens Ireland's reliance on neutrality'
Damaged buildings after Russian forces completed their takeover of Avdiivka, eastern Ukraine. Picture: Denis Pushilin telegram channel via AP
Ireland cannot rely on its neutrality if there is no rules-based international order to guarantee it, a Nato military boss has said.
The chief of Nato's military committee, Admiral Robert Bauer, said the stakes concerning Russia’s war in Ukraine “could not be higher” and that the international rule of law and of democracy, and the sovereign rights of nations, “hangs in the balance”.
Addressing a seminar in Dublin, the Dutch naval commander said the “fate of the world” rests on whether or not Russia wins this war, saying the ambitions of president Vladimir Putin “lie far beyond Ukraine”.
The military advisor to the Nato general secretary spoke at an event hosted by the Institute of European and International Affairs (IIEA) following a meeting with Defence Forces chief of staff Lieutenant General Seán Clancy and an official military ceremony at McKee Barracks in Dublin.
In his opening remarks, Adm Bauer said an anti-Nato protest outside the IIEA offices reflected why the military alliance existed — to defend democracy.
He said the alliance, which Ireland is not a member of, would formally welcome its 32nd member state, Sweden, in the coming days.
But he said recent days also marked the “grim second anniversary” of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, adding that Russian military chiefs expected the war to last just three days.
He said Russia’s most recent attacks were “devastating, but not militarily effective” and cited Avdiivka, which Russia finally took at great cost.
Due to the Russian bombardment, the town was now a “pile of rubble”.
He said Ukraine has “prevailed” as a sovereign nation and had inflicted around 300,000 Russian casualties and destroyed thousands of tanks and hundreds of planes.
He said it had liberated around half of the territory Russian forces had taken at the start of the war.
“Supporting Ukraine is a direct investment in our own security,” he said.
Adm Bauer said the war was never about any military threat to Russia; it was about the threat of a neighbour whose citizens enjoyed democratic rights and the impact that might have on Russian citizens.
He said that if Russia is allowed to win it would send a message to all authoritarian regimes that not only can you violate international treaties but you will benefit from doing so.
“Therefore, we all have a responsibility to do everything we can, the stakes could not be higher: our freedom, our democracy, the rule of law, the right of each sovereign nation to determine its own destiny hangs in the balance.”
And he said Ireland was not disinterested in what happens: “Both Nato and Ireland have vested interest in rules-based order; it underpins all our security.
“Moreover, in the case of Ireland, you cannot have neutrality if there is no rules-based international order that respects and guarantees this neutrality.
“It is not enough to hope for the best, we all need to prepare for the unexpected. In these challenging times, peace is not a given.”
He said the “unthinkable did happen” when Russia launched its full invasion in February 2022.
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