Too little done to reject Putin’s imperialism, says Taoiseach

Too little was done to reject Vladimir Putin’s “new imperialism” and the rebuilding Ukraine must be on the European Union’s agenda, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

He said Ireland would be pushing for Ukraine’s accession to the EU to be accelerated and he wants to see it happen “in the shortest possible time frame”.

Mr Martin was speaking at the congress of the Alde party — Fianna Fáil’s political grouping in Europe — which is being held in Dublin this weekend.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party is also affiliated with Alde, and the country’s deputy prime minister, Olha Stefanishyna, is in Dublin for the Congress.

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Mr Martin criticised Russian president Putin in his address at the official opening of the event, saying the values of the EU were the “ultimate target of Russia’s savage aggression against the people of Ukraine”.

“Putin wants a client state. He wants a state where a hand-picked elite control everything that people have been silenced.

“His fear is that the success of the European Union will continue to inspire others and deepen the contrast with repressive closed states like his,” Mr Martin added.

[ How is banning a Russian from practising tennis in Dublin helping the war effort in Ukraine? ]

The Taoiseach referred to the people of Ukraine taking to the streets in 2014 “to demand a European future for their country ... For this they suffered invasion and partition” and “this terrible war was unleashed.”

“We did too little to stand with the people of Ukraine after 2014. We did too little to reject Putin’s new imperialism and his demand to control other countries in a sphere of influence.

“And this happened while he was constantly investing in extremist parties and disinformation in our countries, putting us all on notice that the destruction of the European Union was a core policy objective for him.”

Mr Martin said the EU’s determination of recent months must be maintained.

“We must stand with Ukraine, not just during this war but in the months and years ahead when our agenda must be Ukraine’s reconstruction, its security of democracy and its inclusion within our union.”

Asked at a press conference if Ukraine’s application to join the EU could be fast-tracked, Mr Martin said it was first vital that Ukraine’s application to become a candidate country be accepted.

“That would be a very significant decision in itself and a very significant message to the Ukrainian people that you are part of the European family.”

Mr Martin refused to get into timelines on when Ukraine could become a member but said Ireland was supporting an accelerated process for Ukraine and other applicant countries.

Ms Stefanishyna said promises had been made to her country in the past in agreements for Ukraine to get rid of its nuclear weapons and on possible membership of Nato “which has never been materialised.”

She said Ukraine had submitted its application and had “done very much to be already very much integrated into the European Union ... We need promises to be materialised and concrete decisions as a candidate status”, she added.

Danish European commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Ukraine had responded to the initial questionnaire in the EU membership application process “with a speed and a quality that has never been seen before.”

She said colleagues in the commission were now assessing this to give a recommendation for the European Council by the middle of June.

Ms Vestager also declined to predict when Ukraine could become an EU member.

She said the country needed to be rebuilt. “In that rebuilding process there may be a very rare chance of accelerating what needs to be done in order to fulfil all criteria [for EU membership].”

Asked if the war would have to end before Ukraine could become an EU member, she said: “I hope the war ends really, really soon. I think being becoming a full-fledged member of the European Union will take a bit of time.”