Martin: Ireland will not block EU defence plans amid Russian threat

As EU leaders debate security and defence, Taoiseach Micheál Martin says Ireland won’t block efforts to counter Russia

Taoiseach Micheál Martin: 'Overall we accept fully that many EU states are under real threat, existential threat and we must acknowledge that.' Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins

Ireland will not stand in the way of European countries' defence and security needs when it comes to the existential Russian threat, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

Mr Martin joined EU leaders in Brussels at his first EU summit in his second term as Taoiseach. The summit is focusing heavily on European security and defence, including the implications of a potentially fractured EU-US relationship.

Mr Trump’s European tariffs loom large after the US president announced tariffs on China as well as on Canada and Mexico — although on Monday Mr Trump announced a last-minute pause on the levies he planned to impose on the latter two countries. 

Mr Trump warned that the EU will be his next target for tariffs.

The news that Mr Trump would postpone tariffs — on Mexico in exchange for 10,000 extra Mexican border guards, and on Canada which promised more co-operation at the border — reinforces the EU’s working assumption that Mr Trump is open to negotiation and might be persuaded not to apply tariffs to the EU.

"Tariffs are a negative and Ireland depends on trade and the EU needs to champion that", said Mr Martin.

Protectionism will harm citizens no matter where they reside and tariffs are a negative, he said.

It's essential that the European Union acts as one. 

"Trade is the competency of the EU but obviously member states have an input as to how we will respond. But I wouldn’t do anything prematurely right now until we see what exactly is being proposed, if something is proposed", he said.

The resounding message from the EU was that it has the power to react to tariffs if necessary but would aim to avoid conflict.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz said the EU would respond if necessary but the "goal should be cooperation". French president Emmanuel Macron said Mr Trump was “pushing the EU to be more united and more active to respond to issues of collective security”. 

British prime minister Keir Starmer also attended the meeting — the first British prime minister to do so on a formal basis. Nato secretary general Mark Rutte also attended.

lreland is one of three neutral member states which are not members of Nato.

Meanwhile, the rest of Europe, particularly the Eastern bloc including Finland, is grappling with the ongoing Russian threat, including acts of hybrid war such as cyber threats, attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure.

"We have to be realistic and acknowledge where countries like Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania are coming from," Mr Martin said.

"They feel under real threat. Sometimes, we may not appreciate that. I do. I’ve met with all of these prime ministers before. It is a very real sense that they have about the nature of that threat. We’d be flying in the face of reality if we were to ignore that," he told reporters in Brussels.

Brussels is in the midst of an intense debate about how to finance its future security amid shifting US relations and a growing, multi-polar global environment.

Defence spending

Key to the debate is how to pay for this defence, as well as build capacity given the demands from the Trump administration that Europe carry a much heavier burden for Ukraine and its wider security.

The idea of common European borrowing to pay for EU defence has been mooted by some countries. And last week, 19 countries called for the European Investment Fund to pave the way to include investment in the European defence industry.

Ireland was not one of the signatures, but Mr Martin said Ireland was not against it.

"We’re not opposed to the EIB mandate being broadened… overall we accept fully that many EU states are under real threat, existential threat and we must acknowledge that," he said.

Ireland will not stand in the way of facilitating other countries in terms of building up their defence strategy.

But he cautioned Ireland's support by recalling that in normal circumstances, "security and defence matters remain a national competence".

However, the growing consensus in Europe is defence and security would be better pooled among all states needing protection, and would reduce "free-riding" from countries that benefit from defence but are reluctant to pay their way.

"We understand that we’re in a different world today, unfortunately. It’s a turbulent world, it’s a very challenging world. The EU, I think, is vital to Ireland to help us to navigate this turbulence and the level of conflict that’s in the world today," Mr Martin said.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said: "When targeted unfairly or arbitrarily, the EU will respond firmly. This weekend we witness how steep tariffs were imporsed on Canada and Mexico / we do not see much good coming out of this"

EU Council president Antonia Costa said: “We need to do defence stronger, faster and we need to do it together.

"Our discussion focused on capabilities, financing including spending and defense partnership with Nato.

“The US is our friend, our ally, and our partner. We need to find compromise while upholding our values, principles and our own interests."