Whether it is Russia’s war on the European Union’s neighbour Ukraine, repeated drone incursions and cyber attacks on member states, the threatened US annexation of Greenland, or meeting the challenge of mass migration, protecting the EU’s borders and sovereignty has now become a central concern for the union.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee rightly warns Ireland is “not immune” to threats. But in contrast to this country’s laid-back attitude to its own security, some member states, such as Estonia, Finland and Italy, see this issue as existential for their people as much as their political leaders. All three feature in this week’s Irish Times series on the union’s borders.
Ireland promises its EU presidency “will work to advance measures that contribute to the strengthening of European security and defence”. That includes brokering, for the first time, a massive expansion of defence spending in the next EU budget. This week alone saw Latvia apply for some €7 billion to help cover the costs of defence and of severing trade ties with Russia.
Responding to the concerns of Estonians, Finns and other front-line states goes to the heart of what Ireland’s neutrality campaigners wrongly describe as EU militarisation. Rather than an aggressive, imperialist projection of power, it is a response to desperate entreaties from partners seeking to protect their borders.
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Memories of the brutality of Soviet occupation and proximity to Russian aggression in Ukraine and Georgia mean the threat feels very real.
War does not begin when the tanks roll across the border, argues Finnish security consultant Hakki Haliste. It has already begun in hybrid campaigns from cyber attacks to drone incursions, border provocations and sabotage.
Estonia, with its large Russian minority population, worries that its own future is mirrored in Vladimir Putin’s excuses for attacking Ukraine, that he was only protecting its “oppressed” Russian minority. The country is spending 5 per cent of GDP on defence (Ireland spends 0.2 per cent).
Finland swapped its neutrality for membership of Nato, and is now home to a network of bunkers offering protection from nuclear or biological attack which can now accommodate more than 80 per cent of the country’s population. Defence in Helsinki is mainstreamed throughout policy, in government departments, local councils and business, in a collaborative “all-society” approach.
In Italy, the challenge is also enormous but of a different nature, as it struggles to cope with the continuing flow of migrants across the Mediterranean. It too has turned to Europe for assistance.
Understanding the perspectives of Ireland’s partners should begin to help the State reframe its own approach to these questions in the years ahead.
