Ireland and its European Union colleagues must not be dragged into US war games, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.<\/p>\n
Senator Stephenson said:<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than engaging in high level diplomatic channels to lower the risk of violence and war, the US has chosen a tactic of escalation, bringing the Middle East, an already fragile and unstable region, into a state of further volatility.<\/p>\n
\u201cChancellor Merz stating that there is no reason to criticise the US is astonishing and reckless – no state or government should be backing actions which risk bringing the international community further into war.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the US leaves destruction in its wake across the Middle East, Israel continues its campaign of terror in Gaza and the West Bank – Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s terror state is only too happy to commit genocide in the shadow of international discord.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland must stand up on the European stage and urge the likes of Chancellor Merz to push for peace, not justify the proliferation of war – the EU was founded as an institution for peace, and it\u2019s past time it returns to playing that role.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis situation harks back to US foreign policy overreaches which resulted in catastrophic losses of life – we must not allow history to repeat itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe US must commit to negotiating with Iran to find a peaceful solution for the region – violence and military escalation is not the answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland must do all in its power to promote peaceful diplomacy and dialogue at the EU level – holding the US to account for its actions is a necessary part of that process.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 23rd, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ireland and its European Union colleagues must not be dragged into US war games, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson. Senator Stephenson said: \u201cRather than engaging in high level diplomatic channels to lower the risk of violence and war, the US has chosen a tactic of escalation, bringing the Middle East, an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[408,641,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign-affairs","category-patricia-stephenson","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n