This must be the most difficult time in Ukraine’s history.
I’ve been asking myself a simple question: “When did Ireland last take to the streets to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?”
Harder question: “When did we last seriously call for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador?”
And the hardest question of all: “When did anyone here publicly express alarm about Russian naval activity off our coast?”
We pride ourselves on values peace, neutrality, democracy, sovereignty. But values only matter when tested. And right now, they are being tested in the clearest way since the Second World War.
On 19 December, Europe faces a defining moment. The European Council will vote on a €150 billion loan backed by frozen Russian assets to secure Ukraine’s defence for the next 2/3 years.
Not speeches. Not statements. Not hashtags.
A real financial commitment the difference between Ukrainian resistance and Ukrainian collapse.
If Europe cannot agree to this, then the uncomfortable truth will be exposed: we are not the West we think we are.
There is growing speculation that the United States may shift position not out of principle, but out of political bargaining and business interest.
If the United States retreats from supporting Ukraine and rewards a brutal, illegal war waged through terror, disinformation, and attrition we will wake up in a different world shortly.
History teaches one brutal rule: If aggressors are rewarded, aggression spreads.
Ukraine today. Poland next. The Baltics after that. And Europe the entire idea of Europe becomes negotiable just in time for Irelands EU presidency July to December 2026.
Vladimir Putin has already begun a hybrid war on Europe, yep the bad state actors behind many cyber attacks, energy blackmail, disinformation networks, political interference. This is not accidental. It is strategic and a master plan.
Europe may not feel at war but Russia already believes it is. Ukraine is just the active front.
In my book, peace proposals that reward the invader are not peace deals, they are surrender dressed up as diplomacy.
Europe’s future and Ireland’s place in it comes down to a simple truth, If we do not support a nation fighting for democracy, then we cannot claim to defend democracy. We cannot outsource moral courage. We cannot outsource European security. We cannot wait for someone else to decide.
Here is Ireland, we are long past the point of watching from the sidelines, we have skin in the game. When you hear the old phrase “but we are neutral,” sure we are, but we are also defenceless.
Ukraine is fighting for Europe.
The question now is: Will Europe fight for Ukraine or will history remember our silence?
News leaked over night is that Europe has agreed to invite Putin back into G8. Moscow will return to world stage and they have asked to cap the size of Ukrainian army, among concessions made in European counter deal to Trumps 28 point proposals for peace.
