I4C Trouble with Daly and Wallace

This week Mick and Clare were in Strasbourg. They caught up on Wednesday to discuss sanctions, recent resolutions on Afghanistan and Ukraine, media narratives about the war, Clare’s recent trip to Guatemala and more. Just after this podcast was recorded Clare went to Greece for the appeal of Amir Zahiri & Akif Razuli, the asylum seekers in prison in Greece, charged with people smuggling. The appeal has been delayed until December, meaning eight more months in prison before these two innocent men can challenge their sentence.

This week we’re talking about the war in Ukraine from a different point of view. We discuss the period of undoing that we’re seeing in EU policy- across all areas hard-won environmental and social progress is being sacrificed in the name of the war. We discuss military mobility and transport, energy, food security and data privacy laws. We also discuss the upcoming EU-China Summit and EU sanctions on Russia.

Calls for increased militarism, and now abandoning environmental goals… A month in to the war in Ukraine and it is becoming clear how certain interests are taking advantage of the crisis. This week we’re discussing one example of this- the recent EU plan for ensuring food security in the context of the war, a win for big agri and a huge loss for the planet. We’re also discussing recent updates from Ukraine, Zelensky’s international speeches and government appearances, oligarchs and corruption, and the impact that sanctions will have not just on Russia but also on the people of Europe.

This week Mick and Clare are in Lesvos, Greece for the trial of Amir Zahiri and Akif Razuli who are being prosecuted as "people smugglers" for trying to seek asylum. They face 50 years each. We discuss their case and how Fortress Europe is allowing member states to criminalise asylum seekers through anti-smuggling laws. We also discuss a recent trip to Lithuania for another trial- this time that of Algirdas Paleckis, a writer being charged with espionage. Finally, the latest on the war in Ukraine.

This week we discuss Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Things have ratcheted up yet again and we are continuing to watch disaster unfold. Among other things, we discuss what we mean when we call for de-escalation and diplomacy, what that could look like at this stage and why it has not been seriously pursued. We also discuss how the dominant, pro-military narrative around the war is making this de-escalation less likely.

Eight days on from the invasion of Ukraine and much has changed since our last episode. We discuss our vote against the European Parliament resolution on Ukraine which has drawn considerable anger. We didn’t vote against condemning Russian aggression, we voted to condemn Russian aggression and will continue to do so. Our vote was against accelerating the provision of military equipment and weapons to Ukraine, strengthening NATO’s forward presence, further increasing defence spending, and activating European common and joint defence efforts. We discuss the question of Ukrainian defence and why channelling arms to the Ukrainians to fight this vastly unequal war will only lead to more devastation. We talk about the need for dialogue and diplomacy and the idea that calls for dialogue are rooted in naivety. Finally we discuss the possible ways out of the conflict. There's a lot to unpack here and this one dives deep

Russia launched attacks on Ukraine this morning. This is the moment we had hoped would never materialise. We discuss what we know about what has happened so far, how things have come to a head in this way and the way forward.

This week on the podcast we’re talking about the Winter Olympics and how they’re being covered in the media. Then on to the biggest foreign policy question of the day - Ukraine. Last Wednesday when we recorded the episode was supposed to be the day the war would start but that’s not what’s happening. Mick talks about challenging the general narrative about this in the parliament. There was also a plenary debate on the death penalty in Iran. Mick and Clare are against the death penalty anywhere but they point to the timing of this debate and the ongoing JCPOA talks in Vienna. Then we talk about the visit of Iván Duque, the president of Colombia to Strasbourg. From condemning the death penalty in one country, to inviting a ruler responsible for the deaths of hundreds of his own citizens to address the parliament, the EP is nothing if not inconsistent with how it deals with human rights violations abroad. Finally we touch on the recent US theft of Afghan money, frozen assets belonging to one of the world’s most impoverished countries which Biden has transferred to the family of 9/11 victims.

This week on the podcast we discuss: the latest diplomatic attempts to address the situation in Ukraine, Irish neutrality under threat, sustainable aviation, subsidies for retrofitting houses, Chinese direct investment in the EU and French neocolonialism in the Sahel.

This week discuss the European Parliament delegation to Ukraine and the latest developments there. We also chat about Clare’s participation in the Bloody Sunday commemoration march, Mick’s meeting with Irish fishing groups, the recent political turmoil that we’ve seen across the African continent, a debate on the war in Yemen and the visit of Afghan women to the European Parliament.