Lisbon does not threaten Ireland’s neutrality
-Austrian Green MEP says neutral and non-aligned countries have nothing to fear from Treaty
The Green Party today said the Lisbon Treaty would have no effect on Ireland’s neutrality and would not force young Irish men into war. At a press conference in the European Parliament offices in Dublin, Austrian Green MEP Ulrike Lunacek joined her Irish Green Party colleagues in maintaining that the Lisbon Treaty posed no threat to neutral countries.
Lisbon Campaign Director and Green Party spokesperson on Defence and European Affairs Senator Deirdre de Burca said: “Following the results of the first Lisbon Referendum, the Government’s Millward Brown survey discovered that 48% of people voted no because they believed the Treaty would allow for military conscription. Of those who voted yes, 26% they understood that this was also the case.
“The message must go out loud and clear that the Lisbon Treaty will have no effect on Ireland’s neutrality. Young men will not go to war because of this treaty. Ireland’s Triple Lock mechanism, which was incorporated into the Irish Constitution since the second Nice referendum, bars Ireland from joining an EU Common Defence. It requires that any overseas armed deployment of the Irish Defence Forces of more than 12 soldiers must have UN authorisation, formal approval of the Irish government and be endorsed by the Dáil.
“The rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in the June 2008 referendum has been followed by the negotiation of similar but more detailed guarantees in the field of security and defence policy. One of these legal guarantees states that “the Lisbon Treaty does not affect or prejudice Ireland’s traditional policy of military neutrality”.
Austrian Green MEP and European Green Party spokesperson Ulrike Lunacek said: “Before our Parliament ratified the Lisbon Treaty we had very similar debates in Austria to those taking place now in Ireland. When I was a member of the Austrian Parliament we examined very closely if Lisbon posed any threat to our constitutionally protected neutrality and, as Greens, we had reservations about some of the military and defence aspects of the Treaty. It is clear that Lisbon was not written to specifically suit any one political party or one country – be it Austria or Ireland. It was designed to accommodate a European Union of 27 countries and nearly 500 million citizens, and it is, on balance, a Treaty that Greens and progressive voters can and should support.”
“There is nothing in Lisbon that threatens Austria’s neutrality and the role of our national parliament in making foreign policy decisions. The Treaty recognised the need for a UN mandate in any peacekeeping missions. And all of this is also true for Ireland.
“Lisbon gives European citizens more rights, including through the new citizens initiative. It also gives parliaments, which contain the directly elected representatives of our citizens, more influence on EU legislation both at a national level and in the European Parliament.
“The alternative to Lisbon, the status quo, is no improvement.”
Nuala Ahern, who held a European seat for the Green Party between 1994 and 2004 said: “It’s important that neutral states like Austria, Finland and Ireland support each other. On nuclear issues, we are very much in tandem. There’s room within the EU for all views. Non-NATO States like Ireland and Austria offer a countervailing force to NATO countries like France and Britain – and it’s important that our voice is heard.”
