Ireland should boycott a proposed informal meeting of EU defence ministers, because the purpose of the meeting will be "to forge ahead with the militarisation of the EU", the Green Party has claimed.
Ms Patricia McKenna MEP said that participation in the meeting would be "a further example of how willing we are to support the establishment of a European defence identity, an identity that will be based on nuclear weapons and controlled by the military states of Europe".
Ms McKenna was speaking at the launch of the party's European election campaign in Dublin yesterday.
The party's other MEP, Ms Nuala Ahern, said Greens would reiterate "again and again" that the Kosovo problem had to be dealt with under a United Nations mandate.
Ms Ahern attacked the Government for "cynically using the impasse in the Northern Ireland peace process to slash funding of up to £5 million which was promised to the Food Safety Authority for cross-border food safety initiatives".
The party's election manifesto includes calls for a moratorium on the commercial release of all further genetically engineered products, as well as a complete ban on GM foods from shops.
