Taoiseach Micheál Martin has accused Russia of routinely committing war crimes by bombarding Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure and warned there will be “consequences down the line”.
Speaking on his way into the summit venue in Brussels, where EU leaders are gathering for a two-day meeting which will focus on the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, Mr Martin warned that a “very difficult winter” is in prospect.
“It’s very clear that there’s increased attacks on civilians, on energy infrastructure in Ukraine, which I think will have consequences down the line. It is war crimes, in essence, happening now in front of our very eyes by a state against a neighbouring state,” he said. “It’s appalling stuff and I condemn it unreservedly.”
Mr Martin predicted a “challenging meeting” on energy, due to the widely differing perspectives of the member states.
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He said that Ireland wanted lower prices, and a stabilisation of the market, and some of the EU proposals could help achieve that.
But he said it was “new territory, in the sense that it’s never been tried before”. He said that industry was increasingly finding the price of energy to be a problem and that from Ireland’s perspective the major concern was “security of supply”.
Mr Martin was cautious about prospects for an agreement among EU leaders, downplaying chances that the leaders would agree on a plan to cap prices or how to pay for it.
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Earlier Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, who was also in Brussels for a meeting of EPP leaders on the margins of the summit, strongly defended the Northern Ireland protocol. He insisted it is working well despite criticisms from some unionists and the continuing refusal of the DUP to join a powersharing administration while the protocol is in place.
“Above all, we should acknowledge that the protocol is working. It was designed to prevent a hard border between North and South and there isn’t one,” said Mr Varadkar.
“It was designed to make sure the integrity of the single market was protected and it has been. And also we’ve seen the Northern Ireland economy outperform the rest of the UK. So on any objective level, it is working.
“The majority of the business community in Northern Ireland don’t want it scrapped … the EU has shown from the very start that we’re able to be pragmatic and able to be flexible on the protocol, so long as those basic principles are adhered to,” he said.
Varadkar and Starmer
Mr Varadkar travelled to Brussels from London, where he met a number of senior figures, including the foreign secretary James Cleverley and the Labour leader Keir Starmer.
He said that Mr Starmer had indicated that if Labour comes to power, the UK would want a closer relationship with the European Union.
“They’re not going to rejoin the European Union, or the single market or the customs union, he was very clear about that. But they would seek to work very closely with the Irish Government on Northern Ireland and also they would seek a closer trading and political and security relationship with the European Union,” said Mr Varadkar.
