Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have a lengthy agenda and, while I would love to discuss the issue of Greece, I will focus on the eastern partnership arrangement with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia which we ratified as Irish Parliamentarians. Given that Europe was a contributor to the unsettling events that occurred in Kiev, Donetsk, Luhansk and elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, I ask the Minister of State for his assurance that he will speak in the best interests of these countries in order that the European Union does not repeat the mistakes it made in the past. I am conscious that Russia is viewed with differing degrees of intensity by those countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. Estonia and Latvia, for example, view Russia as an occupier rather than as a liberator. They also have a more intense antipathy to the Russians than those of us who never witnessed occupation, other than by the British. The key issue is to understand President Putin and the Russian Federation's attitude to what the European Union is doing in regard to these association agreements.

Will the Minister of State assure me that he will set out a distinctively Irish position on the need for dialogue with a view to understanding the fears felt throughout the Russian Federation? I am sure he is conscious that the European Union now realises, rather late in the day, that it is losing the propaganda war among, for example, Russian speakers in various countries which were formerly occupied, including, in particular, Ukraine. I understand the summit may address the issue of developing a counter-propaganda machine on behalf of the West. Perhaps the Minister of State might elaborate on how he thinks this propaganda machine would work. I ask him to convey to his counterparts in Europe that the propagation of the right-wing elements in Ukraine, including fascists, neo-fascists and ultra-nationalists, only fosters the same propaganda in Russian media that we are trying to prevent.

Therefore, it is the EU's prerogative, in trying to react to Russia's negative propaganda, to show that they are not our allies and we do not support them. In the formation of the present Government, one of the first disastrous moves it attempted was to outlaw Russian as Ukraine's second language.

We are moving into very sensitive territory. We are approaching 2017, a very important period in Russia's history. More important, I have lost friends in eastern Ukraine as a result of this debacle, and I do not want to lose friends in Moldova. Members will remember the results of the election in Moldova and how sensitive these matters are. The biggest political party is called a socialist party which is more pro-Putin and communist Russia than the official communist party. There is a very delicate balance. The people of the region must be understood if we are to keep them on the pro-European path. I appeal to the Minister to use the well-established political dialogue process which we are very good at to keep the temperature down so that we are not seen to ally ourselves with those who give propaganda to Mr. Putin.