Irish President Michael Higgins, emphasizing the neutrality of his country, compared Ireland with the Baltic states, and indicated that dangerous political turns should be avoided, Lithuanian public media LRT writes.
Ireland is hosting a Government Forum on International Security, and Higgins told the Business Post ahead of the event that the country should stick to its usual policy of neutrality. The President condemned the discussion initiated by the government on Ireland’s possible accession to NATO and stated that the ministers were threatening Ireland’s neutrality.
In the interview published on Sunday, the 18th of June, Higgins said:
“If you interfere with that, there’s no difference between you and Lithuania and Latvia.”
On Monday, the 19th of June, the president apologized for his remarks about the chairperson of the International Security Forum, Louise Richardson, whom he called a “dame of the British Empire”.
Several politicians have called Higgins’ comments unfair. An official statement from his office said the president apologized if he had inadvertently offended Richardson. However,
the president has not backed down from other statements in the interview,
which has sparked a debate over Ireland’s military neutrality.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Lansbergis stated that he does not believe that the comments of the President of Ireland had a negative context.
According to the Lithuanian foreign minister, each country can freely choose how to maintain national security – by joining a military alliance or maintaining neutrality – and such discussions are a normal consequence of the change in the security situation in Europe.
Read the whole article in English here: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2017152/let-s-not-be-like-lithuania-and-latvia-says-irish-president-urging-to-stay-out-of-nato
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