{"id":375532,"date":"2026-04-01T00:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T00:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/375532\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T00:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T00:07:09","slug":"ukraine-to-be-among-priorities-of-irelands-eu-presidency-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/375532\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine \u2018to be among priorities of Ireland\u2019s EU presidency\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Supporting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/ukraine-crisis\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/ukraine-crisis\">Ukraine<\/a> will be a central priority of Ireland\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/european-union\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/european-union\/\">EU<\/a> presidency this year, Minister for Foreign Affairs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/helen-mcentee\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/helen-mcentee\/\">Helen McEntee<\/a> is expected to emphasise during her visit to Kyiv on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">She is also to say that Ireland will continue to offer assistance to Ukraine and ensure it has sustained financial support \u201cto defend itself against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/russia\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/russia\">Russia\u2019s<\/a> ongoing illegal aggression\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">As a neutral country, Ireland has precluded itself from giving financial aid to Ukraine for military use. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The visit marks McEntee\u2019s first trip to the Ukrainian capital since taking office. She is to underline Ireland\u2019s continued support four years after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">She is also to hold the second Ireland\u2013Ukraine strategic dialogue with Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha. During the trip, McEntee is to open Ireland\u2019s new embassy in Kyiv and visit a project supported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/irish-aid\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/irish-aid\/\">Irish Aid<\/a> at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">On Tuesday, the she visited Bucha, where evidence of civilian killings emerged early in the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">She described the events that occurred there in 2022 as a \u201cstark and harrowing reminder\u201d of the human cost of the conflict.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cIreland stands in solidarity with the victims, and we are clear: Russia must be held fully accountable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">McEntee also reiterated Ireland\u2019s support for a lasting peace settlement that respects Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Regarding Ireland\u2019s presidency of the European Union later this year, McEntee said Ukraine would remain a central focus. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cWe will continue to back strong and targeted sanctions in response to Russia\u2019s illegal war, support Ukraine\u2019s path to EU membership,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The strategic dialogue is expected to focus on deepening the relationship between the two countries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThe relationship between our two countries is already strong, and I am confident it will continue to grow across economic, cultural and people-to-people ties,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Supporting Ukraine will be a central priority of Ireland\u2019s EU presidency this year, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5148,1556,61,60,51872,43,3589,9688],"class_list":["post-375532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-european-union","tag-helen-mcentee","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-aid","tag-news","tag-russia","tag-ukraine-crisis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}