Seán Clancy doesn’t see himself as an Irish military general in Europe in his new role, but a European general who happens to be from Ireland.
The former Defence Forces chief of staff, who this June took over as chairman of the European Union’s highest military body, a senior role which involves advising on defence policy, is well aware of the stakes.
The world, or at least certain parts of it, are “on fire” and Ukraine “represents the front line for Europe at this point in time,” Gen Clancy says.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago had left the wider Continent of Europe in a “grey” zone between war and peace, that necessitated more being spent on defence, to be better prepared to meet any future security threats.
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Investing in defence should not be seen as “militarisation” or a step towards some sort of common European army, but a reflection of that new reality, the four-star Irish general says.
Gen Clancy, who chairs the EU’s military committee, a body that provides input on defence policy to the Brussels political system, says Europe did not have the luxury of being able to “sit back” in the face of that expanded threat of Russian aggression.
“Nobody has a crystal ball to see what the future is but what we do know for certain is that we can measure and understand the magnitude of the threat as it’s being imparted on Ukraine,” he says.
“No member state is immune to it. I’m talking about hybrid threats here. I’m talking about terrorism. I’m talking about many areas such as cyber, space,” he says.
Gen Clancy says geography and distance from Russia offered no protection from the “borderless” nature of hybrid warfare, such as interference perpetrated by remote drones.
“Preparedness isn’t about preparing for war. It’s not about war. It’s not about militarisation, it’s about readiness, it’s about resilience,” he says. That did not just apply to a nation’s armed forces, but the “whole of society”, he says.
The EU’s military committee brings together the chiefs of defence from the 27 states, sometimes in person, but on a day-to-day basis accounted for by permanent representatives posted to Brussels on their behalf. “It’s very important that the military voice is heard,” Gen Clancy says.
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In an interview with The Irish Times in his Brussels office, Gen Clancy says recent pressure on European states to increase the amount spent on defence and their militaries was a “recognition” that things had changed.
“While we’re not at war, as [Nato] secretary general Rutte said ... neither are we at peace and there is a grey area there,” Gen Clancy says.
“The paradigm shift in terms of Europe becoming more self reliant, in terms of its own destiny, in terms of its own defence and security, is here to stay,” he says.
Governments had to be able to protect their citizens, their country’s underlying economic model, trade routes, values and “the way of life we have come to appreciate,” the general says.
From Mitchelstown, Co Cork, Gen Clancy spent four decades in the Defence Forces, rising up through the ranks of the Air Corps, to be appointed to the top job, chief of staff, in 2021.
The Government put his name forward for the senior EU role early last year. The position is selected by a secret ballot of the 27 states, meaning Gen Clancy found himself in the middle of a back room political campaign to secure the post.
It was an “uncomfortable position for any military officer to find themselves in”, he says.
Ireland’s status as one of the EU’s few neutral states, who sit outside of the Nato military alliance, “wasn’t seen as an obstacle”, Gen Clancy says.
“It didn’t arise and in fact, from my perspective, in terms of that engagement I had prior to being elected, I posited as a strength in that I come with no potential bias,” he says.
Ireland has no defence industry or arms manufacturers he could ever be accused of showing some unconscious favouritism towards, during debates about how to improve the union’s defences.
“Therefore I could speak with a voice that was uniform for all 27 member states and I think that strength was recognised,” he says.
Gen Clancy is the first Irish person to head the EU military committee since it was established in 2001. He started his three-year term earlier this year, at a time when the nature of Europe’s most important geopolitical relationship was changing into something much more transactional.
United States president Donald Trump’s return to the White House has led to a breach, or strain, in the traditional transatlantic bond, shaking the assumption that underpinned defence planning in Europe for decades: that military support from Washington would deter any threat from the east.
The “evolving” transatlantic relationship meant Europe was expected to guarantee its own security to a much greater extent, something that was evident in commitments by Nato countries to spend more to shore up their defences, Gen Clancy says.
So was Europe too complacent in previously relying on US security guarantees?
“I kind of reject that a little bit, if I can be straight up with you. You know, asking Europe to do more now ... this is not something new,” he says. “We have to be careful with language,” he adds.
A pivot in Washington’s foreign policy focus away from Europe had taken place under former US president Barack Obama. However, Mr Trump had really “catalysed” momentum behind a push for EU states to pick up more of the bill. “That transatlantic relationship will remain important, but it’s evolving. The US have been very clear in asking us to do more,” he says.
“Post-Cold War I think there was a degree of understanding that we were living in a time of peace, and that there might have been less emphasis or prioritisation on the investment in the defence and security within member states as a whole in Europe,” Gen Clancy says.
Defence spending was an “emotive topic”, but one that had to be framed in a way the public could better appreciate. The first duty of any elected government was to protect its citizens and ensure their security, the general says.
“It’s not militarisation, as I said, it’s not armies, it’s not [military] industrial complexes ... It’s purely [governments] giving the guarantees to their citizens that are doing all that they should be doing to protect them,” he says.
EU channels have become more important in co-ordinating countries’ planned increases in defence spending, as security has moved right up near the top of the political agenda in Brussels.
Some €150 billion in cheap loans backed by the union’s €1.2 trillion budget have been extended to national capitals to finance defence investments, and there is a push for states to order in bulk together when buying new hardware and gear.
There are also early moves to consider jointly funding big projects, such as an EU-wide “wall” to detect and jam malicious drones, and a European air defence “shield”, modelled on Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system.
“It is palpable, the sense of purpose, direction and the momentum. Everybody wants it to move faster,” Gen Clancy says of the defence debate inside the EU institutions.
This shift in mindset would likely remain, even if there was some future truce ending the fighting in Ukraine. “Let’s be very clear, we’re not coming to a cliff edge and then stopping, you know? This is a continuum and the paradigm has changed fundamentally,” Gen Clancy says.
At the same time as European states were directing more resources to their own militaries, they also had to make sure Ukraine had enough financial support in the immediate and medium term to hold off further Russian advances.
“Clearly, we have to put some form of ceasefire in place. I think a lot of effort has been put into that already and will continue,” the general says.
“We need that then to open up the space for diplomacy, political dialogue to take hold, in order to create conditions for a more longer – lasting ceasefire, and eventually some form of an accord to be reached,” Gen Clancy says.
“That will take the parties to come to the table and all the parties must be at the table,” he says. “Certainly I would hope that it would be sooner rather than later, but hope is not a strategy”.
