Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

It is difficult to concentrate on anything today other than Garda matters, but the issues under discussion are of critical importance. We need to put the spotlight on the conduct of the European Union and how this country, as a neutral country, within a league of nations conducts itself. We have to examine seriously the European Union’s policy on Ukraine. It has not been motivated by humanitarian concerns or democratic interests for the well-being of the people of Ukraine. The conduct of the European Union has been based on an economic and political agenda directly competing with Russia’s economic agenda.

The people of Ukraine will be the ones who suffer. Like other Deputies, I find it nauseating to listen to western media cheer the coup against the corrupt former leader, Victor Yanukovych. I have no sympathy for him but his demise was cheered not because he was corrupt but because it destabilised the region and allowed the advancement of the neoliberal agenda in Ukraine. The same neoliberal agenda is riding roughshod across the EU. It is ironic to hear the Taoiseach argue yesterday that all the people of Ukraine want is the right to join the EU in order to enjoy the same great living standards as the people of Poland. Clearly he does not know many Polish people because living conditions in Poland are not worthy of applause. The idea that Ukraine will be joining the EU is laughable because that will not offer a way out. The fact that the new regime has installed its own oligarch shows it is not democratic and is putting the interests of a tiny elite ahead of the general population.

It is appropriate to condemn the hypocrisy of the EU and US in threatening sanctions. We must be consistent in remembering these countries' history of undemocratic and bloody actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia and Kosovo. The idea that the EU has somehow morphed into the great defender of human rights and borders is an insult to our intelligence. When US interests are at stake it has no problem embarking on military interventions or invasions of sovereign territory. The EU is engaging in doublespeak because it also wants to protect its economic interests in the Ukraine. Some European powers are pulling back somewhat because of their concerns in this regard. We are in a unique position as a neutral country to do something different. Nobody in this House is a cheerleader for the rotten Putin regime but some of us would argue for consistency and putting the interests of the people of Ukraine at the heart of this discussion instead of the interests of multinationals, NATO and those who want to enrich themselves at the expense of the many.

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