FORMER Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he has “never been so glad” that the country is not a member of Nato as the military bloc races to boost defence spending.
The former head of the Irish government warned that Western leaders will be taking money out of services like schools and hospitals to meet Donald Trump’s demands that Nato members spend 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, which he described as an “arms race”.
Writing in The Times, Varadkar said: “European Nato members have finally agreed to pay for their own security and the protective shield America provides them.
“To put that in context, 5% of GDP in Ireland works out at about €25 billion in defence spending a year. That’s more than we spend on health, more than double what we spend on education.
“Put another way, it would mean a quarter of all government spending being allocated to defence or the cost of a new national children’s hospital every month. As taoiseach, I increased defence spending and I brought Ireland into Europe’s common security and defence (Pesco) pact in 2017, but I have never been so glad that we are not a member of Nato.”
He added: “If implemented, European countries will spend a fortune on missiles, bombs and drones that are never used and fighter jets and aircraft carriers used mostly for training. Meanwhile, pensioners, schools, hospitals, care homes and children’s services will struggle to get by.”
Varadkar said that the “Russian threat” was real – but “looks weaker” as the war in Ukraine grinds on.
He added: “Its economy is no bigger than that of Italy and depends heavily on a few commodities. After three years of war, it has failed to subjugate Ukraine, could not save the Assad regime in Syria or support its Armenian or Iranian allies when they needed it.”
Noting that only 3.5% of Trump’s military spend target must be spent on “hard military spending”, Varadkar said some of this figure could instead go on other policies should Russia “seek a rapprochement with Europe”.
He added: “Imagine if half of that could be spent on other forms of security
“For example, programmes that deal with some of the underlying causes of political instability, such as eliminating extreme poverty in the global south, climate action to avoid severe droughts and floods and ensuing mass migration, democracy and institution-building so that people can change their governments in a peaceful and orderly manner instead of coups and civil wars, public health, educating women and girls, building roads, telecommunications and inter-connectors to bring consumer goods and cheap solar power from Africa to Europe.”
The UK Government at the beginning of last month published its “strategic defence review” which argued that Britain should be ready to “fight and win” a full-scale war.
Varadkar said: “All things come full circle. All arms races end. Sometimes in war. But always, eventually, in peace.”
