Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney is in Washington, D.C. and Boston for a series of meetings and engagements.
And he is visiting at a time when Russia's aggression in Ukraine has horrified Europe and prompted renewed debate on Irish neutrality and military capability.
And it was that latter issue that Coveney addressed in a discussion Thursday hosted by the German Marshal Fund in Washington.
Coveney is in the U.S. for three days up until Friday. He recently traveled to Ukraine and witnessed first hand the horrors unleashed by the Russian assault.
Prior to arriving in the U.S. and according to the Department of foreign Affairs website, Minister Coveney said: “Ireland and the United States have deep and warm relations built on a foundation of historic ties and shared values. Strengthening this relationship further is a priority for the Government.
"This visit to Washington, D.C. and Boston is an important opportunity to discuss shared approaches to confronting global challenges, and to re-engage with our diaspora community and other friends of Ireland in the United States as we emerge from the pandemic.”
The engagement at the German Marshall Fund was an opportunity for Coveney to provide the Irish perspective on the invasion of Ukraine and the Transatlantic relationship.
After the fund meeting he was to meet with senior members of the Biden administration, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, to discuss areas of continued cooperation in addressing global challenges.
The Minister’s program also includes high level political engagements on Capitol Hill, including with U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
After Washington, Minister Coveney will travel to Boston to participate in a number of engagements on Friday at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Harvard University, and Boston College.
He will also meet with Governor Charlie Baker and members of the Massachusetts State House. Among other topics, he will discuss developments in Northern Ireland, Ukraine, and EU-U.S. relations.
In the discussion at the German Marshall Fund, Coveney indicated that Ireland may increase defense spending by 50 percent or more in the coming years.
As well as attending to foreign affairs, Coveney is also Ireland defense minister.
Coveney, according to an Irish Times report, said Ireland would be making “quite significant financial decisions” in the near future. He is to bring proposals to the Cabinet based on the recommendations of the recent Commission on Defence in June.
Mr. Coveney, according to the Times report, said he did not believe that the majority of people in Ireland supported “at this stage anyway” NATO membership or any structured military alliance .
He said the perception that because Ireland was neutral and had no enemies in the world it did not need to spend money on defense “did not reflect reality any longer."
He said at one point that Ireland was likely to increase defense spending “quite significantly” and later in his presentation suggested it could rise by 50 percent or more in the coming years.
Added the report; "Mr. Coveney also said in relation to Northern Ireland that the institutions of the Belfast Agreement were now under more pressure than at any stage in their 25-year history.
"He said largely because of Brexit there had been a polarization of politics.
"He said he accepted many unionists were offended by checks on good coming from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. However, he said this was what the British government had signed up to 'even if it was not fully honest about it at the time.'
"He supports discussions on the Northern Ireland protocol and greater flexibilities but he was 'not up to thrashing the whole deal,' he said.
"In a question and answer session at the event he said Russia will not be forgiven in Europe for what was happening in Ukraine. He said any future relationship with Moscow would be very different. He said trust had been “fundamentally broken” and “everyone knows we are being lied to."
However, Mr. Coverney said the priority had to be to trying to stop the deaths in Ukraine and not weakening Russia and ending the Putin regime.
Mr. Coveney said the events in Bucha “may only be a microcosm” of what is happening elsewhere in the bigger cities. He pointed to the city of Mariupol and said there may be thousands of civilians starving because of a lack of food and water who were hoping for a miracle.
He said propaganda and slick campaigns may prevent Russian citizens from finding out what was going on in Ukraine. However he said the truth would eventually come out.
During his visit to Ukraine Mr. Coveney did travel to Bucha where hundreds of civilians died at the hands of Russian troops.
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