Former Defence Forces boss says Europe has 'positive role' to play in Ukraine's future

Vivienne Clarke

The former chief of staff of the Irish Defence Forces, General Sean Clancy, who is chair of the EU Military Committee has said that Europe will have a very positive role to play in the future of Ukraine.

“It's not a Nato problem. I think it's a whole of Europe problem. And it's not a problem. But if we get to that point of a peace plan and providing the security guarantees, then Europe will have a very positive role to play, as it has done so over the last nearly four years now," he told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland.

"And primarily that will come in the form of an EU training mission in the first instance. And of course many member States have been participating in that to date. And after hopefully in a ceasefire situation, we get to a point where member states can decide at what level they want to contribute."

General Clancy also outlined the importance of investing in security and resilience measures to protect critical infrastructure, trade, and “the overall way of life” and that it was not just a binary choice.

"This isn't a binary choice. This is a prudent action and a prudent choice to invest in the long term well-being of your society, on your citizens, on your economy, on your way of life.

"Whatever guarantees have to be put in place, they have to be very strong and robust. One of those of course is making sure that we have a strong and strengthened Ukrainian armed forces, that the guarantees that are given by Member States and the allies in due course they underpin the strength of Ukraine and ensuring that we don't have a repeat of what is a return to a large scale war on the continent of Europe that we're seeing.

"Europe has to be able to anticipate, prevent and respond not only to crises and threats that have become very clear from this war, but also from threats that are natural, that are environmental, and of course those that are deliberate and malign."

General Clancy also warned about hybrid threats and the impact they can have along with the challenges and impacts on economic well-being, financial well-being, trade and health systems.