Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I confirm that I am on the campus. I thank the ambassador for the presentation. He clearly conveyed the immediacy and reality of what is happening and that 10,000 refugees are crossing the border into Slovakia daily. It says much about the humanity of Slovakian, Polish and Irish people that we are willing to take in so many refugees amidst all this horror. If just one positive thing has come out of this situation, it is this aspect.

I have two questions, but I will make a general comment first which relates to the last few questions and comments from Deputy Haughey and the Chair. The ambassador spoke about Slovakia's struggle to escape from the influence of Russia. I spent 15 years in the European Parliament, and it was not until I met people from Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Hungary and, indeed, Ukraine that I was able to gain some sense of their histories and why they jealously guard their independence, in just the same way we do ours. I refer to the histories of those countries and the context from which they are coming. I have come across some people who, certainly before this war started, had some sense that Ukraine was perhaps slightly ambivalent about Russian control. The people I met did not understand, as the ambassador said, that countries wanted an equal partnership with Russia. There is a feeling of being sisters and brothers, but that it must be an equal partnership. Certainly, there has been a lack of understanding here about why countries like Slovakia are part of NATO and why they need to be part of that organisation. I was taken by the ambassador's comments to the effect that he fully understands our neutrality. It is extremely important to us, but it is also important that we fully understand Slovakia's situation and why it is part of NATO, and needs to be, for its security.

The subject of my first question was referred to by Senator Chambers when she spoke about human trafficking. Commissioner Johansson said yesterday that the European Commission had activated a network of anti-trafficking co-ordinators. I wonder if they have started to work. With 10,000 people coming into Slovakia daily, it is extremely difficult, if not almost impossible, to manage that process and to put other structures in place at the same time. We must, however, do our very best to protect people, and women and children in particular. Has that process started? Is anything happening in that regard?

My second question concerns what was said about employing teachers. How is that initiative working? Are there issues with language, etc.? I refer to healthcare staff, because many of those will be coming into Slovakia as well. Is the country in any way managing to integrate those people into its healthcare systems? The ambassador almost mentioned that some of the main issues being faced relate to a lack of staff and medical supplies. That is crucial. Is any European mechanism in place, or being put in place, to try to ensure the availability of adequate supplies for countries such as Slovakia, Poland, etc., that are on the front line in receiving Ukrainian refugees?