Ireland is geographically distant from the threat posed by Russia, but it is not immune to suffering cyberattacks or other harm orchestrated by it, a leading Latvian politician has warned.
Professor Janis Vucans, who chairs the Latvian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told The Irish Times: “Being a big distance from an aggressor is not a sign that you are not an object of damage.”
Every country has an obligation to protect its own territory, said Prof Vucans, who leads Latvia’s delegation to the Baltic Assembly – an inter-parliamentary group that includes Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian members.
Ireland depends upon the Royal Air Force for protection against air attack, he noted. “If you rely on British air forces, that’s OK. But if something happens and there is a serious situation in Britain, they will, first of all, protect their own sky, and afterwards, Ireland.
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“It’s a duty of every country, first of all, to protect itself,” he said.
Prof Vucans declined to be drawn on remarks last year by President Michael D Higgins when he questioned the Baltic States’ level of defence spending.
The debate in Ireland about neutrality and defence has been noted in the Baltics, he said, and it was understood that they needed to explain their position to Ireland: “But, we don’t speak publicly about it. We have our own problems that are more serious.”
Many countries in the European Union have suffered cyberattacks orchestrated from Russia, including the 2021 ransomware assault by hackers based in St Petersburg that crippled the Health Service Executive.
Every country needs to be protected from such attacks, he said. “In Ireland’s case, there are a lot of communication cables through Ireland [that] are going to the United States and elsewhere,” he said.
“So, it’s your responsibility to secure these networks because this is the flow of information in the western world, and it’s very important. We have the same problems in the Baltic Sea. In your case, it’s on the same level of importance, to my understanding.
“Therefore, my message to every country, including Ireland, is that everyone needs to protect our infrastructure and to be able to [counter] different attacks from aggressing countries.”
Ireland is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), he acknowledged, and made no argument in favour of Ireland joining the military alliance, but it is part of the European Union.
“Our understanding is that we all are in the same boat,” the Latvian politician and academic said, adding: “Our defence and our security is the common security of European Union and Nato.
“We are very thankful that British troops are in Estonia. Around 900 soldiers are there. In Latvia, we have more than 2,000 Canadians, and in Lithuania there are soldiers that are part of the tank brigade there.”
