Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Who is the Minister kidding? NATO is not some sort of protective entity. Its rationale, if it ever had any, disappeared at the end of the Cold War. At that time, people like James Baker, Secretary of State of the US, said that there would not be an eastward expansion. I reiterate that I believe Mr. Putin is thug. He is dangerous. He has done horrendous things in Chechnya and Kazakhstan. The western powers were far less concerned about those things. The idea that NATO is some sort of benign, innocent force in this instance is ridiculous. It is actively recruiting states in the area and it has expanded dramatically in that area. At the same time, it is urging the European Union to increase military expenditure, which the European Union is going along with, as part of a broader militarisation project and neutral Ireland is not speaking out against it when it should be. This State was born in opposition to empire building. Frankly, it is a betrayal of our tradition of opposition to imperialism and neutrality not to speak out loudly against both military political blocs and their militarist manoeuvrings.

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