Ireland starts reflection on how to define its neutrality

Dublin will launch a four-day public consultation on Thursday (22 June) to review the country’s neutral stance as Russia’s war in Ukraine has reshuffled Europe’s security architecture.

The step comes as Ireland’s neutral and non-aligned Nordic neighbours Finland and Sweden decided to join NATO last spring as a reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, seeking international security guarantees.

“Ireland’s commitment to a rules-based international order with the UN Charter at its heart, and our traditional policy of military neutrality, do not inure us from the need to respond to this new reality,” Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin said when announcing the conference in March.

The ministry announced that the ‘Consultative Forum on International Security Policy’ will aim to “start a discussion on Ireland’s foreign and security policy” in the wake of the Ukraine war.

Switzerland, another neutral state, is also currently tightening its security approach, considering joining EU defence projects, while in Austria, a group of 90 security and foreign policy experts have demanded a rethink of the country’s security policy.

Ireland, a traditionally neutral country, faces new threats that were not considered at the time of its neutrality and prompts debate on modernising its long-held neutrality policy.

The country, however, does have its own army, for which the government last year launched a re-fitting plan, including what it billed as the ‘largest-ever’ budget raise from €1.1 billion to €1.5 billion by 2028, to replace aged equipment, recruit personnel and better equip the country’s armed forces.

Ireland’s neutrality means it only provides non-lethal military aid to Ukraine – in the form of medical supplies, for instance – and only participates in UN-sanctioned operations while not being involved in any military alliances such as NATO.

Under NATO’s current framework “Partnership for Peace” programme, Dublin has improved its armed forces by working to meet NATO’s standards and participated in operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

“The international security environment has changed significantly over the last year. We have seen blatant and brutal disregard by Russia of international law and Europe’s collective security architecture, bringing the war to the European continent,” Martin said about Dublin’s changed tack of its defence policy.

Over the past years, Ireland has increasingly been targeted by malign activity, including a large cyber attack paralysing its health service, making Dublin start looking at how better to defend itself against all sorts of hybrid threats.

Defining neutrality

“We need to have a serious and honest conversation about the international security policy options available and the implications of each of these, as well as examining ways in which we can work with and learn from other European and international partners,” Martin said.

The forum is expected to cover a large range of issues related to security policy, ideas on the steps Ireland should take “to safeguard our security and resilience” and “allowing for a discussion on Ireland’s policy of military neutrality”, the ministry announced, adding the caveat that it would not mean a definite decision on the country’s engagement status.

Instead, the idea is to assess Ireland’s needs and capabilities in the current geopolitical context with different panels of defence experts, academia, politicians, and civil society representatives reflecting on the country’s future role.

Talks are also expected to include its involvement with NATO, the EU’s common security and defence policy (CSDP), and Dublin’s participation in peacekeeping missions and crisis management, disarmament, conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

The public is also welcome to submit their ideas and opinion online.

[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/Alice Taylor]

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