NATO SUMMIT: Irish neutrality was not in danger and the Government was not moving towards membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the Minister of State for European Affairs, Mr Dick Roche, told reporters covering the NATO Summit in Prague yesterday.
Mr Roche denied that he was even attending the summit as such. He pointed out that he was representing the Government at a meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), a forum for consultation between NATO countries and others, like Ireland, who are members of the Partnership for Peace (PfP).
The PfP was set up to promote practical co-operation between full NATO members and other states which are unwilling or unable to join NATO. The EAPC meeting was attended by President Bush, the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, the Czech President, Mr Havel, Germany's Chancellor Schroeder and many other heads of state and government.
It was chaired by the Secretary General of NATO, Lord Robertson, but Mr Roche denied this proved it was an integral part of the summit. He said Lord Robertson was "wearing two hats". Summit organisers pointed out privately that Ireland had sent the lowest-level delegation to Prague, where most of the groups from different countries were headed by prime ministers or presidents. There were five members in the Irish delegation, four civil servants and Mr Roche, whereas the US delegation in Prague was 700 strong.
It had been expected that the Taoiseach or the Minister for Foreign Affairs would attend. Mr Roche said Mr Cowen had originally been scheduled to go but had gone instead to the United Nations, where Ireland is a member of the Security Council. He added that if the Minister for Defence had attended, there would have been "deliberate attempts" to misrepresent this as undermining Irish neutrality.
After the EAPC meeting, Lord Robertson said the member-states had discussed "the security challenges of the 21st century", particularly the fight against terrorism. They had considered ways of "increasing the association" of PfP member-states with the NATO decision-making process where relevant, and "intensifying the day-to-day interaction" between NATO and PfP members.
However, Mr Roche accused the Green Party of "mendacious misrepresentation of the facts" because of a claim by its foreign affairs spokesman, Mr John Gormley TD, that the lines between membership of NATO and the PfP had "become progressively blurred". He added: "The impression suggested is that somehow or other, Ireland is being moved towards NATO by stealth. You can't join NATO by stealth." He said it would require a constitutional referendum.
Pointing out that there were 46 states in the PfP, Mr Roche said: "They are never all going to be members of NATO." The strongest contributions at the EAPC meeting had come from some of the neutral or non-aligned countries like Finland, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland.
Involvement in the PfP was entirely determined by its members, "almost in an à la carte manner". NATO and the PfP "exist apart", he continued.
Canadian Prime Minister Mr Jean Chrétien yesterday said he had rejected an offer by his chief spokeswoman to resign after she was quoted as calling US President Bush a moron.
The reported remarks by Ms Françoise Ducros, made during the NATO summit, made headlines in Canada and the United States.
- (Reuters)