THE Irish Communist Party has blasted the country’s Foreign Minister for signalling that the state is set to become mired in Nato’s proxy war against Russia.

In a blow to Ireland’s policy of military neutrality, Simon Coveney confirmed that the Irish military would take part in an EU training programme for Ukrainian armed forces, which includes neonazi units. 

The Communist Party of Ireland says that it opposes the “active collaboration of the Irish political establishment in the Nato-EU strategy to escalate and prolong the war in Ukraine.”

Nato is presently funding, arming and training Ukraine and facilitating mercenaries and fascist paramilitaries. 

The CPI said violence in Ukraine predated the Russian invasion and had been on the increase since the US-backed “Maidan” coup of 2014.

The Irish communists say that the cause of the current conflict is  “the expansion of Nato by establishing large bases of troops and mass destructive weapons along [Russia’s] western and southern borders.”

The CPI accused the country’s political Establishment of trading neutrality for a seat on the UN security council.

They said: “Far from being neutral, the Irish political Establishment has lined up behind the Nato-EU war effort and finds itself out of step with the majority of UN members which do not back Nato sanctions.”

They said: “It is time that Irish peace forces stopped allowing themselves to be bullied, intimidated, and blackmailed by the pro-war, pro-Nato lobby so strongly entrenched in the Irish Establishment.”

The CPI says that Ireland is using the plight of people fleeing war as a political tool to win support for their pro-Nato stance. 

“It is time that the Irish government used its voice in the UN and in the EU to call for a ceasefire and peace negotiations,” they said.