Irish neutrality

Ireland is one of four members of the European Union that are not members of NATO. The others are Austria, Cyprus and Malta. The country has a longstanding policy of military neutrality: it does not join military alliances or defence pacts, or take part in international conflicts. The nature of Irish neutrality has varied over time. Ireland declared itself a neutral state during the Second World War (see Irish neutrality during World War II), and during the Cold War it did not join NATO nor the Non-Aligned Movement.^[1] Since the 1970s, some have defined it more broadly to include a commitment to "United Nations peacekeeping, human rights and disarmament".^[1] Recent Irish governments have defined it narrowly as non-membership of military defensive alliances.^[1][2] The compatibility of neutrality with Ireland's membership of the European Union has been a point of debate in EU treaty referendum campaigns since the 1990s. The Seville Declarations on the Treaty of Nice acknowledge Ireland's "traditional policy of military neutrality".^[3][4] The Irish Defence Forces have been involved in many UN peacekeeping missions.