Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

It is an issue that is going to come up very much. If there is not peace in Ukraine by the time we hold the Presidency, the issue of Ukraine will be very much to the forefront in any EU discussions. We will then be required to provide leadership in that area. I think the Tánaiste will accept that it will be a challenge on the basis that no matter what happens, we cannot go in there and provide support and help without a UN mandate. As we all know, a number of countries have a veto in relation to any UN mandate and that has not happened for quite some time. We need to really have a discussion on what our role is in this whole area when we hold the Presidency. We need to plan for a number of different scenarios so that we can carefully manage it and at the same time provide the leadership that is required at European level.

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