German chancellor Friedrich Merz has strongly defended his country’s legal system and rejected suggestions an Irish man is undergoing a “show trial” in his country.
Merz is visiting Dublin and on Tuesday met Taoiseach Micheál Martin at Farmleigh in Dublin.
Merz was asked by reporters about the trial of Dubliner Daniel Tatlow-Devally, who faces charges for trespassing and criminal damage to an Israeli-owned arms factory.
Members of a cross-party Oireachtas delegation who visited Tatlow-Devally last week, including Government backbencher Barry Ward, described the proceedings as a “show trial”.
READ MORE
Merz said that Germany’s judicial process provides the accused person with a legal team. “I have absolutely no doubt that regardless of any nationality, Germany sticks to the rule of law, meets international standards – there is no doubt about this.
“The German judiciary is independent and is fully bound by the law. It is absolutely clear that this is a correct trial and not a show trial.”
Martin said that the Government here would not comment on live cases but that Ireland had offered dedicated consular assistance to support Tatlow-Devally and his family.
The German chancellor also laid out his country’s firm opposition to sanctions on Israel. “In general we won’t join sanctions against Israel, we don’t want to, we won’t do it, we cannot do it and this will continue to be the case for the time being,” he said.
The Taoiseach, welcoming Merz to Dublin, expressed his “deepest condolences” following an attack on the Berlin Pride festival last week, telling him Ireland stands in “full solidarity” with Germany and that the values of pride were European values - such as inclusion, equality and respect.
With talks on the EU’s next seven-year budget set to intensify during Ireland’s presidency of the council of the European Union, Merz used his speech in Dublin to lay down a hard line and indicate he wants hundreds of billions stripped out of current spending proposals put forward by the European Commission.
“In all member states we are making difficult decisions on budget consolidation so we cannot have excessive increases at the European level,” he said, adding that his own government plans to reduce its workforce by 8 per cent in the next four years.
“This is why we need a budget proposal with cuts across the board overall of several hundred billion euro,” he said, calling the cuts “imperative”. He also called for a reduction in bureaucracy and signalled German opposition to capping direct payments to companies by member states, as well as further taxes on companies at a European level to fund the EU budget.
The German leader said that Europe “can only hold its ground in the world through its own economic strength”, saying the enthusiasm and ambition in the EU had “clearly declined” and that there was a window of opportunity to move on competitiveness issues as well as decarbonisation. “A lot will depend on the Irish presidency in the coming months regarding the topic of competitiveness,” he said.
Martin said that a digital levy imposed on tech multinationals would be “challenging” in the context of an existing agreement on trade between Brussels and Washington, cautioning “we have to tread carefully on that front”.
Merz would not be drawn on German views of whether alumina exports to Russia should be sanctioned, including those from the Aughinish Alumina plant in Co Limerick. But Martin reiterated the Irish position that sanctions should not hurt European interests, while signalling that closer oversight through an independent third party of where Irish alumina exports end up should be considered by the European Commission.
“It would be for the commission in my view to potentially commission that type of independent assessment as well,” Martin said.
“A more independent assessment would be an additional factor and we will discuss this with the commission.”
The meeting comes during Ireland’s six-month presidency of the EU Council.
Both leaders spoke of the enlargement of the European Union, with Merz indicating he supported accession for Montenegro by the end of the decade and an “associated membership” for Ukraine as a step towards membership.
