There is growing concern in Government about possible ways Russia may covertly be trying to meddle in Irish politics, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Mr Martin said he had “real concerns” that groups stoking fears about asylum seekers could potentially be tied to the Kremlin’s “weaponisation” of migration to undermine governments in Europe.
The State will likely have to reassess its security planning for a major political summit of European leaders that Ireland will host next year, Mr Martin said, in light of the heightened threats of malicious interference from drones, as recently seen in Denmark.
The Republic was not “immune” to having its political system or elections targeted by Russia, though clearly not to the extent that Moscow had tried to tip the scales against a pro-EU government in Moldova in a recent election, Mr Martin said.
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The Taoiseach said he will ask the Electoral Commission to talk to Moldovan electoral authorities, to learn about the methods Russia had employed in its unsuccessful attempt to influence that vote.
“In the Moldovan case, so many false, fake [social media] accounts were established and financed, so let’s not pretend that we’re immune to that,” the Fianna Fáil leader said. There had been an “extraordinary” effort to undermine the pro-European party in Moldova, he said.
That election saw Moldovan president Maia Sandu’s party defeat Russian-leaning opponents, in a win that was viewed as preventing the eastern state from sliding into Russia’s orbit.
There was evidence of outside actors flooding the online space in Ireland in the past, Mr Martin said.
“We found out ourselves on the night of the Dublin riots for example … The traffic on social media was extraordinarily high. There was no question that there was an orchestration by some actors out there, can’t specifically say who, but there’s no doubt that there was,” he said.
[ There is ‘naivety’ in Ireland over Russian threat, says TaoiseachOpens in new window ]
Speaking after a two-day European summit dominated by discussions of security and the Ukraine war, Mr Martin characterised the threat Russia posed to the EU as “serious enough”.
“Right across all areas, critical maritime security, subsea cables, cyber security, hybrid attacks, Russia presents a threat,” he said.
The number of asylum seekers and migrants arriving in Europe could also be linked to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he said. “Russia is not active in Libya and in the Middle East for nothing, or in Africa, it’s controlling some of the migratory pathways, it’s pushing migration into Europe,” the Taoiseach said.
The week before the Copenhagen summit saw unidentified drones force several of Denmark’s airports to temporarily shut, causing significant disruption. Senior EU figures privately suspect a Russian hand behind the interference, though that has not been confirmed.
The Government will have to incorporate those new risks into its own preparations to host the same European summit in Ireland late next year, the Taoiseach said.
A meeting of 47 European heads of state and government will take place during the State’s six-month term holding the EU council presidency.
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“Certainly the events of the last number of weeks has given us focus ... has given us food for thought,” Mr Martin said.
The summit will be the “largest political meeting ever held in Ireland,” he said. “We have obligations obviously to protect the security of the meetings … So that’s something we’re very conscious of,” he said.
Hosting the summit and other high-level meetings while in charge of the EU presidency, an important deal-making role, is expected to cost upwards of €150 million, possibly much more.
Government sources said security costs will account for a large part of that budget.
