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Munich Security Conference: Security isn’t all about armies, said Varadkar. Few were listening

Amid wars in Ukraine and Gaza, Trump’s comments and Navalny’s death, the Irish struggled to be heard

A dinner reception takes places in the dining hall of the Munich royal residence during the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Photograph: Johannes Simon/Getty Images

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Conor Gallagher
Sun Feb 18 2024 - 16:30

This year’s Munich Security Conference, which concluded on Sunday, was always going to be a significant event, and not just because it was the prestigious summit’s 60th year.

The event in the south German city took place at the confluence of three major global security crises: Ukraine’s faltering defensive war against Russia, which is about to enter its second year; Israel’s pending assault on Rafah in southern Gaza and Donald Trump’s implied threat to gut Nato should he be re-elected.

World leaders who gathered in Munich already had more than enough to talk about when news broke on Friday, the first morning of the conference, that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had died in prison. By grim coincidence, Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya was at the conference to speak about Russia’s many human rights abuses.

“I want Putin, his entourage, Putin’s friends and his government to know they will pay for what they have done to our country, to our family and my husband,” she told delegates after the news filtered through.

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It was the first of many dramatic moments at the three-day event, which was accompanied by a massive security operation that shut down a good portion of Munich’s city centre. Helicopters hovered constantly overhead while snipers kept watch from rooftops.

It was hard to go 100m without passing through a metal detector or flashing a pass.

[ Irish neutrality has changed but it is too early to consider it dead and buried ]

Against such a febrile atmosphere, the Irish delegation, led by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin had a hard time finding an audience for its message that security isn’t all about tanks and warships.

Ireland is one of the few countries whose foreign aid budget is bigger than its defence budget, Varadkar boasted at several points throughout the weekend. If other nations followed suit, he said, the world would likely be a much safer place.

It wasn’t clear if anyone was listening. Much of the discussion around Ireland related to it allegedly refusing to pull its own weight when it comes to defence.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the Munich conference with Prof Louise Richardson; Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross; Wolfgang Sobotka, president of Austria's parliament; and Ian Borg, Malta's minister for foreign affairs. Photograph: Conor Gallagher

Isn’t it true that Ireland relies on the Royal Navy and Air Force to protect its shores, Brendan Simms, an international relations professor in Cambridge University, asked Varadkar during a panel discussion on neutrality.

He was referring to the much-publicised but still technically secret deal Ireland has with Britain to allow the RAF to enter Irish airspace in certain emergency circumstances.

[ Who protects Irish skies? The secret air defence deal that dates back to the Cold War ]

It was the beginning of a sometimes-testy exchange between the Taoiseach and the Irish-born academic. “I’m not aware of any particular UK intervention that’s helped us in that regard,” Varadkar replied tersely.

But “everyone knows” Ireland relies on the UK to keep it safe, just as it did in the second World War, Simms replied. “I don’t think what I’m saying is in any way controversial.”

The exchange continued, without either side ceding ground, until the moderator, Prof Louise Richardson stepped in and moved on the discussion.

This was the first time a sitting Taoiseach attended the Munich summit in its 60-year history and Ireland’s junior status was evident from the start.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar defended Irish neutrality at the Munich Security Council 2024, arguing against the assertion that Ireland is too reliant on the UK.

Varadkar’s fellow panellists included Malta’s minister for foreign affairs and the head of Austria’s parliament. These are important people but a far cry from the superstars on the other panels, such as Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and US secretary of state Antony Blinken (whose secret service detail prevented the Irish delegation from departing for several minutes).

Of the 10 spots open to journalists for the neutrality debate, just two were needed.

Neither Martin nor Varadkar seemed too put out by any of this; the real dialogue happens far away from the conference halls anyway, at lunches and over steins of weissbier.

The delegation was here “because Ireland wants to be more plugged into the debate around defence and security”, Varadkar said.

“But a big part of what I’m saying is defence and security is not all about armies and weapons. We should give equal focus . . . to dealing with some of those underlying causes of conflict and instability in the world, like climate change, like an absence of economic opportunity.”

It was a hard sell, he conceded. “But no one has disagreed with it. So deep down they must think it’s true.”

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