Russian War Games Moved After Meeting With Irish Fishermen

News -- Februay 3, 20221: Last week, Irish fishermen made headlines around the world when they announced they were

going to ignore any restrictions the Russian navy put in place while it conducted exercises off the coast of Ireland. The reason? Fishing, not gunboat diplomacy. Irish Fisherman Plant to Stand Against Russian War Games

The Russian navy was scheduled to conduct exercises about 150 miles off the coast and in the country’s exclusive economic zone — a part of the Atlantic that Irish fishermen say is critical to their livelihoods.

The Irish government had warned that there would be “serious safety risks in the operational area.”

But last week, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met with Russian Ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov and told him that Irish fishermen had said they would fish regardless of naval restrictions.

On Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it would relocate the area of the exercise outside of the Irish EEZ in response to these concerns. "Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu has made a decision, as a gesture of goodwill, to relocate the exercises by the Russian Navy . . . outside the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ), with the aim not to hinder fishing activities by the Irish vessels in the traditional fishing areas," the ministry said in a statement. 

Wnctimes by Marjorie Farrington