Could we pay the cost of neutrality? - European army

Those of us still implacably wed to the notion of Irish neutrality — whatever that really means in 2015 — will undoubtedly be at least disturbed by the weekend declaration by EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who suggested that a common European army would be a timely deterrent to further Russian aggression on the continent.

That his remarks came just before today’s meeting in Brussels where former Nato chief and EU foreign policy head Javier Solana will present an argument calling for a new European security strategy — including military capability — for intervention beyond EU borders will add to the concern of those who imagine that a policy of leave-us-in-peace neutrality is still possible today.

They may, however, take some small degree of comfort in the remarks made last week by Defence Minister Simon Coveney, who insisted that our neutrality has not been compromised by joining the Nordic Battle Group — even though one of its member countries is aligned with Nato.