Ireland faces security test as it takes over EU presidency

As Europe battles cyberattacks, infrastructure sabotage and other hybrid threats, Ireland’s military neutrality is facing new scrutiny.

By JACOPO BARIGAZZI
and ANTOANETA ROUSSI
in Brussels

^{Illustration by Eoin Ryan for POLITICO}

As Ireland prepares to assume the presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1, lawmakers and security experts question whether one of the EU’s weakest military powers is ready to protect the bloc’s summits and critical infrastructure from drones and cyberattacks.

A visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Dublin last December offered a glimpse of the challenge. During the trip, five unidentified drones were detected near the flight path of Zelenskyy’s aircraft, despite the presence of an Irish naval vessel tasked with securing the area.

The episode “demonstrated that high-level political visits bring vulnerability,” said Barry Andrews, an Irish Renew Europe MEP who authored a major report on Irish defense. “With the presidency, it puts a target on your back.”

Ireland’s six-month term overseeing policy negotiations between EU countries will include major summits, including the European Political Community gathering, and 22 informal ministerial meetings. Dublin must provide security for visiting leaders, delegations and critical infrastructure.

That places heavy demands on a country that has for decades relied on geographical isolation and military neutrality as cornerstones of its security posture. Ireland’s defense spending is the lowest in the EU — just €1.35 billion, or 0.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2025, compared with the EU-wide level of 2.1 percent of GDP.

Ireland’s presidency comes as European governments are increasingly focused on cyberattacks, disinformation and sabotage linked to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Security experts warn the presidency could make Ireland a target for those seeking to embarrass both Dublin and the EU.

“No country in Europe is off Russia’s target list,” said the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas, in a visit to Dublin on June 9.

Lawmakers have been warning about Irish vulnerability for years, Irish Senator Gerard Craughwell, an independent who served in the British and Irish armies, told POLITICO, but the country has now reached “a tipping point.”

He said successive governments have neglected national defense and the protection of undersea data cables, despite three-quarters of such cables in the Northern Hemisphere passing near or through Irish waters. 

Ireland’s navy has eight ships and aims to keep four available for operations on a rotational basis. It has no fighter jets and only awarded a contract for its first military-grade radar last year.

Dublin insists it is prepared for the presidency.

It has allocated €1.5 billion for defense in its budget for this year, launched its first-ever maritime security strategy, and announced a five-year plan to spend €1.7 billion on improved military equipment, capabilities and facilities to deter drones and potential Russian sabotage of undersea cables.

It has also updated a security agreement with the U.K. that includes counter-drone and maritime security cooperation.

“What we’re doing is bringing forward elements of that [agreement with the U.K.] to make sure that if British forces are asked to deploy counter-drone technology during the presidency, that capability will be in place,” Defence Minister Helen McEntee told reporters in Brussels at the end of May.

Conflicting priorities

In its presidency policy program published June 16, Dublin says it will advance several defense initiatives, including the European Security Strategy and the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy.

The document also says Ukraine will be “a defining priority for the Presidency.”

“We will work to ensure Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression, and support Ukraine in advancing its capacity and coordination with the EU and cooperation with partners,” it adds.

But unlike most EU countries, Ireland has limited its support for Kyiv to nonlethal military assistance and humanitarian aid.

“Defense is going to be one of our top priorities,” Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence Thomas Byrne told POLITICO. He said Ireland would have to chair defense-related EU negotiations as an “honest broker,” representing the collective interests of member countries, most of which are part of NATO, rather than as a neutral country.

When asked if Ireland’s neutrality is a problem for the EU’s goals in Ukraine, Kallas said in a television interview in Dublin on June 9: “Militarily neutral, yes, but not indifferent to what is happening.”

In a press statement on the same day, McEntee reiterated: “Ireland recognises the importance of strengthening our own security and defence capabilities while contributing meaningfully to the collective security of our European partners.”

The cyber challenge

The challenge is also digital. Ireland hosts the European operations of several major U.S. technology companies, including Meta. Yet it lacks a standalone signals intelligence service — a national security agency responsible for intercepting and analyzing foreign electronic communications, said Edward Burke, assistant professor in the history of war at University College Dublin.

The country does have a National Cyber Security Centre, while Ireland’s military and police maintain their own cyber and intelligence capabilities. But Burke argues these institutions do not amount to a fully developed signals intelligence service comparable with those found elsewhere in Europe, such as Britain’s GCHQ.

Richard Browne, director of the National Cyber Security Centre, recently warned that cyberattacks during Ireland’s presidency are likely to focus on causing reputational damage to both the EU and the host nation.

“We hang everything on this neutrality thing,” Craughwell said. “We say we’re neutral and therefore cannot rely on our NATO neighbors for support. But in practice, we do it all the time.”