Dáil debates

Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Topical Issue Debate

Assassination of Boris Nemtsov

1:05 pm

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very glad the Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, is here to take this issue. I was appalled to learn of the brutal murder of Boris Nemtsov last weekend, as were the overwhelming majority of the Irish people. Mr. Nemtsov was a prominent opposition politician in Russia and his RPR Parnas political party is a member of ALDE, the same political grouping to which Fianna Fáil is affiliated at a European level.

Over the course of his life, Mr. Nemtsov worked to speak up for the most marginalised in Russian society. He was a committed democrat who fought to strengthen the political institutions in Russia and he highlighted the scourge of corruption at every opportunity. In recent months, he had also been an outspoken critic of the conflict in Ukraine, which has claimed so many innocent lives. The murder of Boris Nemtsov must also act as a warning sign to all people who believe in liberal democracy in Europe and in Russia. It is evidence that all is not well with the political system in Moscow.

The increasing Russian aggression towards its neighbours and internally towards political opponents is a most frightening development. From what we see and listen to through the media reports, there appears to be an increasing culture of fear in Russia. State authorities are said to act in an exceptionally partisan way in how law and order are maintained and in how laws are implemented. It seems the regime in Moscow is exhibiting increasingly fascist-like tendencies, where state and party merge into one and where some opponents are even forced to leave the country.

We are all aware of the desperate carnage with the loss of life of so many innocent people and we think of one particular incident alone, the shooting down of the civilian aircraft MH19, resulting in the death of 298 innocent people. I mention that in the context of the current Russian foreign policy that has resulted in war in Ukraine with untold devastation and the undermining of that country's sovereignty. As a Parliament, we should be very conscious of the sovereignty of other nations.

The West has responded with sanctions which have had an impact but which have not provided a long-term solution. Even Ireland, a country which has traditionally had a distinctly cordial relationship with Russia, has been touched by this aggression through the infringement of Irish-controlled airspace by Russian military aircraft. This, we have learned, resulted in commercial traffic having to be diverted or suspended when travelling to and from Irish airports. The Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, need to take up this issue directly with their counterparts in the Russian Government. I know from Question Time last week that the Minister had instructed senior officials in his Department to meet the Russian ambassador and senior officials in the Russian embassy. However, at this stage, with another recorded infringement of Irish-controlled airspace, it is time for the Minister and the Minister of State to raise this matter directly with the Russian authorities and to state very clearly that any infringement of Irish-controlled airspace is not acceptable.

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