EPC summit to get under way in Convention Centre today

The largest diplomatic undertaking in Irish history gets underway this morning as the Taoiseach Micheál Martin hosts the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit at the Convention Centre Dublin.

The event is the logistical high point of Ireland's EU presidency and will be characterised by a massive security operation and traffic lockdown as the state prepares to welcome as many as 50 heads of state and government, as well as leaders of EU institutions.

Tensions around the summit have already been heightened by recent bomb scares affecting a number of Irish media outlets - including RTÉ - as well as a range of threats directed at European airlines, including Aer Lingus and Ryanair.

While there has been no conclusive evidence thus far, there are suspicions that the threats are part of Russia’s ongoing hybrid warfare efforts against European countries supporting Ukraine.

In September 2025, ahead of the last EPC summit hosted by an EU member state, Copenhagen airport and a number of Danish military bases were subject to a range of unexplained drone attacks.

The EPC brings together over 50 EU and non-EU leaders arriving from all corners of the continent, from Iceland to Armenia.

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney will join the summit, as will NATO secretary general Mark Rutte.

There will be seven leaders of EU institutions, including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The EPC format was conceived by French President Emmanuel Macron following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as a way for EU and non-EU leaders to meet in an intimate setting in order to address common security and energy challenges.

The format was dismissed at the outset as a talking shop, since the summits do not produce agreed action plans or communiques, while EU candidate countries feared that it would be yet another waiting room before full accession.

However, the format has gained in stature, with Mark Carney joining the summit for the first time in the Armenian capital Yerevan in May.

The informal nature of the summits allows leaders to share their own experiences of, for example, the Continental implications of Russia’s invasion, migration, cyberattacks or the impact of energy prices arising from the Iran War.

The EPC in Blenheim Palace in the UK in 2024 created some ambient goodwill for a post-Brexit reset, while the summit in Budapest allowed Continental leaders to prepare for an incoming Trump administration.

The forum also provides for discreet bilateral talks on thorny regional issues, such as tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey and Cyprus, and Serbia and Kosovo.

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be absent due to the COP summit in Ankara; Spain’s Pedro Sanchez is campaigning for this month’s snap election, while Belgium’s Bart de Wever is locked in budget talks at home.

Despite that, there will be a major turnout of prominent leaders, all keen to address the shared challenges facing the continent.

"Times of trouble require new opportunities for privileged dialogue," says Sébastien Maillard of Chatham House.

"The EPC has provided a greater scope for reflection, grasping the whole continent from Iceland and Greenland to the UK and Turkey, regardless of EU membership, reflecting the shared links and interests inherent in a geography that neither globalization nor the digital age have overcome."

Ukraine expected to dominate proceedings

Once again, the Ukraine war, now well into its fifth year, will dominate proceedings, and comes against the backdrop of an uptick in diplomatic activity as the Trump administration seeks to revive a peace process.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the summit, and alongside the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and European Council President Antonio Costa, will be one of only three leaders who will directly address the first plenary session.

He will update leaders on the two days of peace talks involving US, Russian, European and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi that ended on Wednesday.

Ireland’s hosting of the EPC has given the state a walk-on part in the negotiations, with US President Donald Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner announcing on Tuesday that they would travel to Moscow to brief Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Abu Dhabi talks, and then on to Dublin to brief President Zelenskyy on Mr Putin’s response.

All indications are that, beyond an agreement by both sides for a major prisoner swap, there were no major breakthroughs between the two warring parties.

Mr Kushner told reporters that US mediators were appealing to each side's interests to end the war, and he expressed confidence they would find a pathway to peace.

Following a meeting with the Taoiseach last night, President Zelensky again said that progress would depend on how much pressure Donald Trump would be prepared to put on the Russian president.

"We are living through these massive attacks. Of course, we want to get results by the end of this year, and of course, we will be doing everything to make that happen," he told a news conference.

The Ukrainian president said much depended on "the will of [the] American side to pressure on Russia or not, it depends on the format of their dialogue with the Russians."

The Taoiseach said Russia’s escalating attacks against energy infrastructure and civilian targets were "barbarous, and it is vile, and I once again offer my heartfelt solidarity to the people of Ukraine and my undying admiration for your unwavering resolve, resilience, and bravery," he said.

"They may be tired of war, but they remain standing tall and unbroken despite all that they have faced. They deserve our support. They deserve our help to keep their economy and society going. Most of all, they deserve a just and lasting peace."

With over 50 delegations and 500 participants expected, today’s summit - and a follow-up informal summit of EU leaders at the Convention Centre tomorrow - has required the largest ever security operation by An Garda Síochána, bigger than those of any US presidential visits.

According to the Irish Presidency, "every member of An Garda Síochána will be involved either directly policing the events in Dublin or indirectly ensuring policing continuity in our communities across the country.

"Over a 72-hour period…over 15,000 twelve-hour shifts will be carried out by members of An Garda Síochána. To support this effort over 35,000 hot, sit down meals will be provided.

"Welfare officers will be on duty at every location, welfare supports, water, hot drinks, snacks, fruit is all provided for members at the frontline."

Gardai have been supplied with a new fleet of motorcycles, patrol cars and vans, with new motorcycle and public order uniforms and equipment.

"An Garda Síochána has procured the most up to date counter drone detection and mitigation systems, as good or better than any other EU country," said the Presidency.

Taoiseach to greet leaders at welcoming ceremony

The Taoiseach will formally greet leaders at a welcoming ceremony from 09.40am until 11am.

Once greeted, the heads of state and government will enter the so-called Leaders’ Lounge where they will start the informal process of getting into bilateral and multilateral huddles.

It’s understood that this is where most of the "business" is done. Leaders will not be cossetted by large groups of civil servants, with the objective being that they will be better placed to build stronger interpersonal relationships.

Then at 11.30am, the first Plenary session will start, with a 10-minute address by Micheal Martin, followed by interventions from President Zelenskyy and European Council President Antonio Costa.

Officials say the intimate, informal nature is key. Unlike EU summits, there is no agreed communique that delegations will have to spend weeks haggling over.

After the Plenary, the meeting will break out into thematic discussions led by two leaders - one EU, one non-EU - on the topics of interest, a format introduced during the Danish EPC summit in Copenhagen and continued in Armenia. Those leaders will have discretion as to how they run their respective panels.

One overarching theme is "Europe: Strong, Secure, Connected." Officials say leaders will focus on economic security, competitiveness, AI, soaring energy costs and defence, with the Ukraine war and Russia’s hybrid activity to the fore.

A second theme will be on how European countries - EU and otherwise - can develop democratic resilience and combat foreign interference and misinformation, not least since so many EU member states will hold elections next year.

Officials say these thematic discussions will help leaders assess how they can best work together to meet these objectives, both within the EU framework and without.

After an informal lunch in the Leaders’ Lounge, the round table format chaired by two leaders will resume. There will also be Friends of Ukraine and Friends of Moldova meetings.

At 5.15pm, there will be a closing Plenary session addressed by the Taoiseach followed by a joint news conference, involving Mr Martin, Antonio Costa and the Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who will host the next EPC in the spring.

Leaders will then depart for dinner and entertainment at the National Gallery - again, another intimate gathering given that leaders will not be joined by any officials.

The government will be desperate to ensure that the event goes off without any serious hitches, given that the Ukraine talks, and the last minute arrival of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, will have made the spotlight on Ireland shine that little bit brighter.

It has been two years in the planning, yet even when the petits-fours are consumed at the end of the dinner, the Irish Presidency will still be on full tilt, with an informal European Council meeting tomorrow, and 24 formal ministerial council meetings still left to run.

There remain hugely intractable differences that continue to divide EU member states on the funding for Ukraine, and on the size and scope of the next long term EU budget.

These issues will overshadow today’s meetings, even if they are not formally on the agenda.

Ukraine will have funding needs of €70 billion next year, with the EU keen that other key partners - Canada, Japan, the UK - contribute more, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has caused consternation by suggestion that Berlin will not fund the seven year EU budget if some of its eastern European beneficiaries opt out of supporting Ukraine.