Nato

Hal Brands Opinion Sweden’s faux neutrality couldn’t survive Putin’s war

Is there life after empire? I pondered the question last week at the Engelsberg Seminar, a gathering of academics, journalists and policy-makers held in a disused ironworks two hours by car from Stockholm.

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Dorcha Lee Opinion Neutral or not, we may have a role to play in Europe’s defence

The news that Finland and Sweden have applied to join Nato should not put pressure on Ireland to join the alliance. Both Scandinavian countries have always felt threatened by Russian expansionism, whether it was by Imperial Russia, the USSR or the Russian Federation. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine convinced the Swedes and Finns their present policies of non-alignment were insufficient to guarantee their national security and independence. They needed the extra security offered by Nato’s mutual defence clause.

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John Downing Opinion Turkey’s objection to Sweden and Finland threatens Nato credibility

Sweden and Finland – each led by a female prime minister – are grappling with Turkish threats to veto their Nato membership applications.

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Katrina Vanden Heuvel Opinion We need a real debate on Putin’s illegal Ukraine war

It’s time to challenge the orthodox view on the war in Ukraine. As Russia’s illegal assault enters its fourth month, the impact on Europe and the world is already profound.

Letters to the Editor Opinion America’s right to bear arms is an outdated, insane law

When the second amendment to the US constitution (the one about the right to bear arms ) was ratified in 1791, it was long before revolvers and automatic weapons were even thought of. The main danger then was being run over by stampeding buffaloes.

Letters to the Editor Opinion Multiple reasons why neutral Ireland should not arm up

Critics of Ireland’s policy of neutrality and relative lack of military capability tend to call for us to join Nato or else to expend many billions of euro on fighters, tanks and Navy ships to develop an independent capability to defend ourselves.

Letters to the Editor Opinion Coalition of autocracy dressed up as democracy

The suspension of Green TDs Neasa Hourigan and Patrick Costello is indicative of the autocratic process of policy and law-making in our ‘democratic’ government.

Letters to the Editor Opinion It’s nice to see us peacefully ploughing our own furrow

Elizabeth Cullen (‘Ireland must be peacemaker to prevent further loss of life’, Letters, May 19) asks for the preservation of Irish neutrality and says we might position ourselves to act as peacemakers between the belligerent countries of the world.

Letters to the Editor Opinion National Maternity Hospital progress is not irretrievable

The Cabinet’s decision on the ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital is a setback, but it is far from an irretrievable position.

Victories both at home and on the world stage for Ukraine as Nato expansion on the horizon

Almost three months after Russia shocked the world by invading Ukraine, its military is currently facing a bogged-down war, the prospect of a bigger Nato and an opponent buoyed yesterday by wins both on and off the battlefield.

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John Downing Opinion Nato developments mean EU’s five neutrals – including Ireland – may soon be reduced to three

Meet myself and the boys down the back of the bicycle sheds, “swot”, if you’re going to claim you knew the word “Finlandisation” before the latter end of this week.

Parties on French left form coalition to take on Emmanuel Macron in parliamentary elections

A new left-wing political coalition has been forged in a blow to Emmanuel Macron’s chances of winning a parliamentary majority at next month’s election.

Russia ‘not succeeding, but the fighting continues’ – Donbas bombarded but key territory still in Ukrainian hands

Russian forces pounded Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region yesterday but failed to capture three target areas, Ukraine’s military said, while Moscow said western sanctions on Russia and arms shipments to Ukraine were impeding peace negotiations.

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Colm McCarthy Opinion Neutrality saves us money – and the neighbours are no threat

Finland and Sweden are on the verge of applying to join Nato, which would leave just four out of 27 European Union countries outside the alliance — the two small Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta, plus Austria and Ireland.

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Balázs Apor Opinion Cult-like status of self-important strongmen may finally be waning as war takes toll

The cult of the leader, a standard barometer of authoritarianism, is one of the pillars of Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Viktor Orban’s Hungary.

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Lionel Laurent Opinion Macron must deliver at home and on the global stage

In 2017, France bucked the populist trend by voting for Emmanuel Macron against Europhobic Marine Le Pen. In 2022, it has done so again – just as Slovenia looks set to eject its nationalist leader.

Kremlin’s nuclear warning can not just be shrugged off

War, they tell us, is the unfolding of miscalculations. Vladimir Putin made the first by completely overestimating his own strength and underestimating that of Ukraine. But there is a danger that a grave misreading of the threats could lead to an even more monumental miscalculation.

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Ukraine’s long-range attacks highlight a fragility in Russia’s armour but such tactics are unlikely to win Kyiv the war

So far in this war, Ukraine has shown itself to be adept at long-range strikes against targets outside its borders.

Letters to the Editor Opinion People of Russia should not look the other way this time

Many commentators deliberating on Russian foreign policy, advance the argument that it’s not the Russian people – it’s their regime. But indeed, that is the point – it’s their regime.

Letters to the Editor Opinion Disunited unionists and SF ‘aloners’ really need help

With the Northern Ireland Assembly elections now in full swing, let’s take a close look at the chief combatants.

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Frank Coughlan Opinion Taking sides in the war over our steadfast neutrality

Neutrality is one of those shape-shifting words that means different things to different people. For diehard Irish isolationists it simply represents what it did for De Valera’s generation.

Russia launches a full-scale offensive in east as Volodymyr Zelensky pleads for more weapons

Russia has launched its long-feared, full-scale offensive to take control of Ukraine’s east, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced last night.

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John Bolton Opinion New members, German commitment and better US leadership key to Nato’s future

Commentary on Nato “unity” against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been misplaced. Nato is not unified in seeking Moscow’s defeat, and Kyiv’s memory of the execrable Minsk agreements, imposed with French and German participation, remains strong. Ukraine stays in the fight largely through its own determination .

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Jennifer Rubin Opinion Vladimir Putin has inadvertently become Nato’s best recruiter

Russian president Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine with the intention of wiping out a democracy on his border, a first step in rebuilding the Russian empire.

Kremlin issues nuclear threat to Nato-bound Finland and Sweden

The Kremlin has said it will station nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad if Finland and Sweden join Nato.

Sweden set to join Nato in a major strategic win for alliance

Sweden has decided to join Nato, with Finland likely to follow “within weeks”, in a sign of how Russia’s attempts to counter the security alliance has backfired.

‘China’s missiles are capable of hitting all Nato territory’

Earlier this year, Jens Stoltenberg was in touching distance of the end of his eight-year stretch as Nato secretary-general, months away from his next role as head of Norway’s central bank.

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Charles Moore Opinion Now is the time for the West to decide if it wants Ukraine to win this war against Russia

I start with a question. Do we want Ukraine to win? This might sound stupid. Of course we want Ukraine to win, most people would say. No national leader in the EU or the rest of free Europe – except perhaps Viktor Orban in Hungary – wants a victory for Vladimir Putin’s aggression.

‘As Russians retreat east, it could be weeks before they are ready to regroup’

The war in Ukraine is entering a “crucial phase” as Russia concentrates on the Donbas, the head of Nato has said, with defence experts suggesting it could be weeks before Russia is ready to fight again.

Murdered civilians lay in streets of Bucha for weeks, satellite images show as Zelensky calls for Russians to go on trial for war crimes

Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of committing the “most terrible war crimes” since the Second World War as he called for trials akin to those held after the defeat of the Nazis.