Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy's points are well made. There is a real fear in eastern European countries, in the Baltics in particular, not just among elected political representatives but among the people in these countries about Russia's positioning. If Russia gains further ground in Ukraine, these countries genuinely feel they are next. It is sinister and threatening that the Russian President has laid charges against political leaders in all of those countries, saying they will be arrested and detained. It is wrong. Its influence in Africa has been malign and about grabbing the resources of the countries in which it has been behind coups. We saw recently in Mali and now in Niger the influence of the Wagner Group, for example. It is very destructive. It is about securing as many mineral assets as it can to get control over them, which is to the detriment of the population of these countries. Russia is a bad actor on the international scene.

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