Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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This is the second time I have heard the Minister of State elaborate on the role he is going to play in Europe. I thank him for his detailed presentations and I agree with most of what he has said. In regard to his new engagement with those who will be elected to the European Parliament from the far left and the far right, it constitutes a worrying trend in European politics that people seek simplistic solutions and often adhere to slogans that are attractive. We have experience of that in Irish politics, not least in the Irish Parliament.

Does the Minister of State agree that we must start looking more closely at justice and fundamental rights issues in the European Union when it comes to, for example, hate crimes, xenophobia and anti-semitic outbursts? The European Union must hold firmly to its fundamental beliefs and the basic human rights that accompany them if we are to be able to argue strongly against the hatred that is being delivered by UKIP and others. This weekend my daughter brought back some UKIP propaganda from its election campaign. We are lucky in Ireland that we do not yet have an extreme right wing party propagating that type of hatred. Does the Minister of State agree that some of the solution to curtailing the ultra-right, in particular, and whatever goes with the ultra-left, which has been around for a long time, involves measures in the area of justice and fundamental rights to deal with hate crimes?

In regard to the decision to speed up the association agreements with Georgia and Moldova, what is involved in the agreements we are bringing forward? While I appreciate that we must pay particular attention to Georgia and Moldova in light of the unfolding situation in Ukraine, I am concerned that by rushing this process we will be creating an agreement that we cannot stand over.

Ukraine is a country in crisis. For the past two years I have been critical of the European Union's position on Ukraine. I have argued that it was never treated as a unitary state but there is no point in rehearsing my views because they are on the public record. I maintain contact with people in Ukraine. I was involved in two sessions in eastern Ukraine and I have very good friends there. Does the Minister of State agree that the danger arises that Russia, with its 40,000 troops on the border, is creating an atmosphere that could destabilise the region and that those separatists who want to become part of the old Soviet Union do not really represent the desires of the people of eastern Ukraine? Is there a danger that Russia's use of language depicting Kiev as a threat will ultimately leave those who are currently occupying buildings as the meat in the sandwich between the politics of Russia and the politics of Ukraine? I understand that many people in eastern Ukraine do not support the separatists who are currently occupying buildings. There are historic parallels, not least in Ireland, in which people's emotions were built up to the point where they marched behind the loudspeaker with the tricolour flying or became terrorists because their emotions were milked. Is the Minister of State aware that the separatists severed social media, television and radio links in eastern Ukraine and that the people of the region are almost exclusively dependent on Russian television, which is further exploiting the emotions of eastern Ukrainians? Does he see any sign that the Russians will not invade but will instead do everything they can to organise factions to destabilise the country in advance of the presidential elections due to be held shortly?