Ireland: Irish fishermen plan to disrupt Russian military exercise in Atlantic

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Russian warship

Photo: Russian Defense Ministry / imago images / ITAR-TASS

Ireland is concerned about the rich fish stocks off its coast.

Because of all places in the so-called exclusive economic zone (200-mile zone) in the Atlantic, Russia wants to hold a maneuver.

Irish fishing boats therefore want to disrupt the military exercise with a protest.

As the fishing association announced, up to 60 boats could fish in the area.

This was reported by the Irish broadcaster RTÉ on Tuesday evening.

"Our protest is our presence," said association chief Patrick Murphy in an RTÉ interview.

"The sea is our working environment, we should be safe there, we shouldn't have to deal with this kind of interference in our livelihood without a say."

The fishermen fear that the fish stocks could be disturbed by the five-day military exercise.

The Irish government had already expressed its dissatisfaction with the planned exercise.

Secretary of State Simon Coveney called them "not welcome."

The Russian embassy in Dublin warned, according to RTÉ, "any attempt to interfere with the military exercise would be an unscrupulous and irresponsible act that could endanger both ship crews and fishermen".

It is understandable that fishermen are concerned about the fishing grounds, but there are no triggers or scientific data to suggest that the practice is damaging ocean biodiversity.

At a press conference, Russia's Ambassador Yuri Filatov had previously described the controversy as "enormously inflated".

The maneuver was "in no way a threat to Ireland or anyone else," he reportedly said.

It is only a small exercise involving three to four ships.

He couldn't say if there was any shooting.

Norway had already reported Russian naval maneuvers amid tensions between Russia and the West over fears of an invasion of Ukraine.

The Norwegian Ministry of Defense reports on its website that five Russian warships have been spotted at the border.

However, the ships all crossed in international waters.

as/dpa