Back at the beginning of February the European Union, all 27 member states, Ireland duly included, agreed on a fifty billion euro ($54 billion) economic aid package for Ukraine. EU leaders and officials actually managed to pull Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban into the frame. Viktor is reluctant when it comes to aiding Ukraine, and less than reluctant when it comes to fawning over Vladimir Putin.
The New York Times reported that the money would help keep Ukraine's economy afloat for the next four years "even as U.S. aid is stuck in Congress."
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky was, of course, grateful. He was also conscious of the fact that the EU and not the U.S. was, at that moment, his country's closest friend in every sense of the term.
We are now on the cusp of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The cost in lives and material has been staggering. It seems to matter little to Vladimir Putin, who has condemned countless thousands to death in a war of his own choosing that will go down in history as a monument to his vanity, ego and greed.
"Europe sets the tone for global affairs. The EU has proven that its word matters."
Zelensky's view from Kyiv would be confirmed just days later when Donald Trump pretty much suggested that Russia should attack NATO nations that do not pay their required NATO bills, that being two percent of GDP.
An attack on any NATO member is an attack on all NATO members, including the United States. Following Trump's words there was widespread comment and speculation that Trump, should he be elected to a second term, would move to withdraw the United States from NATO.
Zelensky's embrace of the EU was making more sense by the minute because, beyond Trump, there is a grouping in the U.S. Congress which does not seem to take seriously enough the fact that Ukraine is fighting for the free world, a gathering of democratic countries of which which the United States has long been accepted as leader.
But maybe not quite so much in recent years.
We are now on the cusp of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The cost in lives and material has been staggering. It seems to matter little to Vladimir Putin, who has condemned countless thousands to death in a war of his own choosing that will go down in history as a monument to his vanity, ego and greed.
And now there is the death of Alexei Navalny. Few in the world would be of the view that Navalny's passing in a Siberian penal colony was as a result of natural causes - unless you have reached the point of accepting that murder in today's Russia actually amounts to a natural cause.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he is “deeply shocked" by Alexei Navalny’s death.
"His death underpins the lack of respect for the rule of law and protection of human rights in Russia, and is a reminder of the repressive nature of the regime against its own people,” Martin said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Martin might have been shocked, but not entirely surprised.
Stated President Michael D. Higgins: "The freedom to express dissenting views, be it on the structure or administration of society, is a fundamental tenet of a democracy and any accountable system. The incarceration of Alexei Navalny contradicted this.
"It is important that all of those who believe in these principles support the making available of all of the facts surrounding Alexei Navalny's death."
President Biden was more blunt, stating in part: "He (Navalny) bravely stood up to the corruption, the violence, and all the bad things that the Putin government was doing.
"In response, Putin had him poisoned. He had him arrested. He had him prosecuted for fabricated crimes. He sentenced him to prison. He was held in isolation. Even all that didn’t stop him from calling out Putin’s lies....Russian authorities are going to tell their own story. But make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. Putin is responsible.
"What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality. No one should be fooled, not in Russia, not at home, not anywhere in the world. Putin does not only target the citizens of other countries, as we’ve seen what’s going on in Ukraine right now, he also inflicts terrible crimes on his own people."
Indeed. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill.
