Fianna Fail candidates support cooperation with NATO.

Crowley supports cooperation with NATO "Where appropriate". Fair play to him!
Crowley supports cooperation with NATO “Where appropriate”. Fair play to him!

As pointed out by Adrian Weckler here, Fianna Fail eurocandidates are running on a European Liberal manifesto which calls for co-operation with NATO and enhanced defence cooperation within the EU. All of which I agree with, by the way. But it sure ain’t neutrality, I mean, would we promise the same to China?

I can imagine some people in Fianna Fail regarding me as a smartarse for pointing this out, but the fact is, in the European Parliament, this stuff matters, and Irish candidates can’t just pretend that it doesn’t.

The manifesto actually says:

” ELDR believes the EU should play an important role in contributing effectively to global security, where appropriate in cooperation with NATO structures. Therefore we call for major new efforts to strengthen and extend the European Security and Defence Policy by bringing together European defence-related resources and capabilities. This would enhance the EU’s military defence cooperation and its responsiveness to international security and humanitarian emergencies.”

In fairness, by global standards, it’s fairly tame stuff, but considering that our troops have served under NATO command in Yugoslavia, and US troops use Shannon (And a couple are apparently based there for logistical reasons) what exactly is Fianna Fail’s definition of a breach of neutrality? The truth is, FF is opposed to us formally joining NATO, but everything else is on the table. Why don’t they just say that? 

 

 

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