Irish Neutrality and EU Election Interference A Closer Look

With EU elections just 2 days away, it’s hard not to feel the tension in the air. Yesterday, a sitting Irish MEP, Clare Daly, had devotees canvassing at my local supermarket for her re-election. How someone with known pro Russian political-affiliations can be good for Ireland is anybody’s guess. Can you explain it? Drop a line in the comments.

One may even ask what this EU election fuss is all about, and why should ‘neutral’ Ireland care? Unlike times past, Ireland is now a part of the EU family. Like all nations in our EU family, we are subject to the external threats the EU faces, just as much as we benefit from the opportunities our membership brings.

Internationally, the deteriorating security situation, heightened by Russia’s immoral invasion of Ukraine, has had a profound effect on the security landscape of the EU. It’s my view this effect has been building since 2014, signalling a larger orchestration at play.

This type of malicious long-game features in my debut novel, From Terror to Valor: Echoes and Shadows. Throughout, Jack’s special operations team always appears to be behind in a murky world of cat and mouse with dangerous adversaries. Yet, the world they live in is seamlessly interacting with peaceful, everyday societies in the United States, and the EU. Could this change for those democratic nations in Jack’s story?

EU Election interference likely

Back to the real world, and a real world quandary for democracies dealing with the consequences of disinformation in digital subversion campaigns. I think that the status quo of a peaceful EU in times past has acted like a circumstantial echo chamber, where peace in the EU has become immune to world affairs.

For example, I cannot stress how incorrect the Irish perception of peace at all costs neutrality is when you examine it under the microscope of reality. The fact is that we in Ireland, as a neutral state, are a greater target for hostile actors. Through decades of willful ignorance, we have incrementally disabled the potency of our Defence Forces. In tandem, we have accumulated vast wealth, alongside highly desired technical and commercial resources.

I think it’s fair to say we have effectively turned our back on protecting our own territorial waters, and ourselves. Alone, we could not stop incursions even if there was a political will to do so. Finland has a robust security infrastructure, and it was neutral for a lengthy period. In 2023, when Russian aggression raised to actionable levels, Finland, noting its robust security infrastructure, sought to join NATO as an act of self defence.

Moving from the physical security realm to the political realm; a fresh problem for Ireland and other EU nations has arisen. With just two days to go to the EU elections, we face the possibility of election interference. Delivered via disinformation, and other means; hostile foreign actors acting for states like Russia seek to deliver an election result that serves their interests, to the detriment of our own.

From activism to subversion

While Jack’s world of intelligence and kinetic operations follows a logical structure, my debut novel portrays a larger and more complex world that closely mirrors the challenges we in the EU are facing during this election period. Surrogates are becoming more aggressive in pushing their false narratives into the physical world, just as EU election day looms. Their most visible targets are election campaigners that don’t agree with them.

Yesterday, I saw on Twitter/X, another disgusting attack on democracy. Far-right surrogates, and the notorious Burke family targeted a Fine Geal canvassing walk in Westport, Co Mayo, Ireland. The Irish Prime Minister (aka. Taoiseach), Simon Harris, was their target. One may think it’s an isolated incident, but sadly, it is not.

Rising threat levels

It’s happening all over Europe, and considered the effect of mainly Russian influence on our affairs. The intent is disruption and division, and it is driving EU politics to the far-right. Moscow’s influence, by design, can become unprecedented, as it identifies and transforms social issues into social levers for their benefit.

In partnership with others of like mind; multiple bad-actors have successfully scaled this customized subversion of freewill via digital means. Over a decade of fine-tuning, digital authoritarians are using their weaponized skills and strategies to target Western democracies. I explored just a tiny fraction of our response options in my article “How Nations Battle Disinformation for our Digital Future”, which looks at information resilience and risk.

As we approach this high stakes election in the EU, it’s comforting to know that the EU has formed a task force whose primary job is to, upon request, deploy to member countries. They will help with addressing disinformation, election interference and other subversive related activities, designed to do us harm over a wide spectrum of areas.

Ireland has access to this new EU team, which will help us make up the distance when required. Our longer-term plans require a radical overhaul of our political attitudes, communal will, and view of the security landscape. This world of threats and opportunities can help us build something great! I am confident we can do it, if we address the mire of digital subversion, and all the threats that come with it. Not to sound like a cliche, but “United we stand, divided we fall!”. We will succeed with the former; our adversaries will succeed with the latter. I hope we choose wisely.

About the Author

John is a versatile author known for his gripping fiction narratives in the thriller, action, and suspense genres. With a background as a part-time journalist with Irish Tech News since 2016, and expertise in cloud technologies as an engineer; John brings a unique blend of storytelling prowess and technical acumen to his work.