Ireland’s prime minister has said he is concerned to see the UK “disengaging from the world”, and accused it of turning inwards by leaving the EU, slashing international aid and now considering abandoning a human rights treaty.
Speaking before a bilateral meeting with Rishi Sunak in the Spanish city of Granada, Leo Varakdar said he could barely recognise the country.
Asked if he was concerned over threats made by the UK to walk away from the European convention on human rights, he replied: “I am, to be honest.”
The British home secretary, Suella Braverman, has questioned whether the convention is “fit for purpose”.
“The Britain and United Kingdom that I love and admire, it is the country of the Magna Carta, the country that founded parliamentary democracy and the country that helped to write the European convention on human rights,” Varadkar said.
“It does bother me to see the United Kingdom disengaging from the world – whether it’s reducing its budget for international aid, whether it’s leaving the European Union and now even talking about withdrawing from the European convention on human rights. That’s not the Britain I know,” he said.
The two prime ministers are among 47 European leaders gathered for the third summit of the European Political Community, a new platform created as a result of the war in Ukraine to try to forge stronger bonds between countries across the continent.
Varadkar said he would be raising the issue of the human rights convention directly with Sunak.
He will tell the British PM that his plans to go ahead with legislation to give an amnesty to people accused of killing during the Northern Ireland Troubles were a breach of the convention that supports justice for all.
“We will certainly discuss the issue of the UK legacy legislation. That’s something that the Irish government is very opposed to and so are the victims’ groups and so are the five main parties in Northern Ireland [we are] all agreed this isn’t the right approach.
“We believe it is potentially a contravention of the European convention on human rights and certainly I will say that to the prime minister,” he said.
Later the taoiseach was said to have had a constructive meeting with Sunak in which both sides acknowledged they had different views on the legacy legislation. They also discussed the importance of the Anglo-Irish bilateral relationship in light of trade and “positive indications” the two countries would be hosting the 2028 European football championships.
Sunak is also holding a bilateral with Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, after they both managed to force migration on to the unofficial agenda.
Sunak did not take questions on the way into the summit, at which there are an estimated 800 journalists.
The leaders were due to discuss geopolitical issues including defence in Ukraine, energy security and artificial intelligence, but at the 11th hour migration was added for a breakout session to be chaired by the British and Italian prime ministers.
European leaders have rallied round Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the meeting of almost 50 presidents and prime ministers and said that, unlike the US, they will never waver in their support of the defence of Ukraine.
The gathering of leaders across the continent including 17 non-EU leaders to discuss Ukraine was a message, said Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, as she arrived at the conference.
“This sends a strong message to Putin, that from Dublin to Chişinău that we do not tolerate aggressors against a sovereign state,” she said.
Zelenskiy flew into Spain on Thursday morning to discuss the defence of his country but also its bid to become a full member of the EU.
He insisted that a temporary exclusion of Ukraine defence spending from the US budget was merely a blip and he was confident, after speaking to Joe Biden that the US was “100%” behind Ukraine.
“The main challenge is to save unity in Europe, not only in the EU, but in all of Europe,” said Zelenskiy, warning of Russian “disinformation attacks”.
He had said on social media earlier that his priority was to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences.
“We will pay special attention to the Black Sea region as well as our joint efforts to strengthen global food security and freedom of navigation,” he added.
