Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I do not think it is a question of the commission or the commissioners setting out to undermine democracy in the European Union or anywhere else for that matter. The UN has lost a considerable amount of its prestige and power by virtue of what happened in the western Balkans. Once that contingent stepped down in the face of a superior force, the UN lost the initiative at that stage and has sadly not regained it since. It needs to assert itself as an international peaceful organisation. There are other aggressive forces in the field now and very small entities. Private armies can now be raised overnight and there is access to the munitions they want. The situation is a bit like an international mafia. We cannot control them nor can the UN. This has happened on every continent in recent times, except perhaps Australia. The fact of the matter is simply this: we have to be vigilant at all times. We have to remember what happened in the past. We have to remember, for instance, the words of the Russian ambassador when he said that it was not the intention of Russia to invade the Ukraine. Do members remember those famous words? He vowed again and again that it was not Russia's intention to invade the Ukraine. He vowed it a week before Russia actually invaded the Ukraine. The week before it actually did invade Ukraine. Some of these manifestations of a willingness by powerful authorities to do good have to be taken with a grain of salt.

We have another meeting coming up, so we have to move on.