Ireland’s EU presidency puts its contradictions on display: Atlantic tax haven, digital gatekeeper, defence free‑rider
The Irish government is forecasted to spend up to €400m on its EU Presidency, potentially four times that of the recent Danish and Cypriot presidencies. While much of this money will be allocated to policing and security of high-level events, such an eye-watering sum raises the question: is Ireland simply attempting to dazzle the rest of the EU with a glorified PR exercise to sanitise its image in light of growing misdeeds?
An attack on Poland would be Putin’s last fail
![Kaupo Rosin, director general of the Estonian foreign intelligence service: 'Most [Russian] soldiers have a low IQ level; they are convicts from the lowest strata of society. This is not an army you could use for sophisticated operations. Instead, they keep sending in troops blindly, sending them to their deaths'](https://static.euobserver.com/2026/04/1.webp)
