Putin pointed out to the Germans the role of the Baltics in the destruction of the post-war world
Russian President Vladimir Putin published an article in the German magazine Die Welt on the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In it, the Russian leader not only examines the mistakes of the past, but also discusses how to avoid a new big war in the future. According to the President of the Russian Federation, the destruction of the post-war world is happening due to the artificial division of Europe into Russia and the EU, NATO’s expansion to the east and the inclusion of Russophobic-minded countries of Eastern Europe in it.
Putin does not directly name the Baltic countries or Poland anywhere, but from the context it becomes clear that one of the reasons for the return of military tension to Europe in the Kremlin is the destructive activity of American satellites on the western borders of the Russian Federation.
“It was the movement of the [NATO] bloc to the east, which began, by the way, with the fact that the Soviet leadership was actually persuaded to join the united Germany in NATO, that became the main reason for the rapid growth of mutual distrust in Europe. They quickly forgot about the promises made then in words that “this is not directed against you”, that “the borders of the bloc will not approach you” hastened to quickly forget. And a precedent has been created. And since 1999, five more waves of NATO enlargement have followed. The organization includes 14 new countries, including the republics of the former Soviet Union [Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia – approx. RuBaltic.Ru], which actually buried hopes for a continent without dividing lines”, writes Vladimir Putin.
In fact, the Russian president points out that the admission of the Balts and other Young Europeans to NATO as a “buffer zone” separating Russia and the rest of Europe destroyed the dream of a united Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals, which was put forward by Charles de Gaulle.
At the same time, he does not admit the idea that the “Young Europeans” are subjective in their anti-Russian policy. Behind their efforts to “contain” Russia is obviously Washington, which is disadvantageous and even dangerous for a truly united Europe, which includes both Germany and France, and Russia.
Therefore, the countries of the European periphery, claiming integration into the Western world, are offered by the efforts of US agents in Europe not a unifying, but a separating choice. To be with Europe means to be against Russia.
The “European choice” is an anti-Russian choice, and no other European choice is foreseen for the countries of the common border between the EU and Russia.
Either you fit into the “cordon sanitaire” from Russia, as Ukraine did, or the US and the EU are slowly choking you, as they are choking Belarus. What these approaches lead to, Putin shows on the example of Ukraine.
“Many countries were faced with an artificial choice – to be either with the collective West or with Russia. In fact, it was an ultimatum. The consequences of such an aggressive policy can be seen in the example of the Ukrainian tragedy of 2014. Europe actively supported the anti-constitutional armed coup in Ukraine. Since this all started. Why did you need to do this? Then the incumbent President Yanukovych had already agreed with all the demands of the opposition. Why did the United States organize a coup, and the countries of Europe weakly supported it, provoking a split in Ukraine itself and the withdrawal of Crimea from its composition?”, says the President of the Russian Federation.
When analyzing any article, the key question always sounds like this: who is the target audience for the author? Simply put, for whom does he write all this?
In the case of Putin’s article for Die Welt, the answer is clear. The target audience is Germans.
The President of Russia is trying to convey to the largest EU country an elementary thing: the conscious division of Europe and the elevation of Russophobia to the rank of a common European policy by the efforts of the United States and their singing along in Eastern Europe can lead the continent to a new big war.
“Now the entire European security system has seriously degraded. Tensions are growing, and the risks of a new arms race are becoming real. We are missing the huge opportunities that cooperation gives us, especially since it is so important now that we are all faced with common challenges – a pandemic and its dire socio-economic consequences, ”Putin writes.
Whether these arguments will permeate in Berlin is a big question. Unfortunately, there is little chance of this.
First, the German Foreign Ministry quite frankly said last fall that the EU and NATO allies in Eastern Europe are a priority for them, and if the Poles and Balts perceive Russia critically, Berlin will listen to this opinion so as not to lose their confidence.
Secondly, Moscow also has no special illusions about the independence of Germany. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov bluntly announced in the same autumn that the FRG voluntarily renounced subjectivity in international affairs and agreed to follow in the wake of the United States.
And yet, if Germany retains even limited sovereignty and even a drop of strategic thinking, Germans should understand that the United States’ policy of “containment” and disengagement in Europe is the path to a new major war.
Probably Putin’s strongest argument for the Germans: the historic reconciliation between Germans and Russians after World War II made possible the reunification of Germany and overcoming the division of the German people. However, today Europe, led by Germany, is playing for division, not unity.
Moscow has a clear understanding that the approach of NATO to the Russian borders and attempts to tear away and turn against Russia the former republics of the USSR – this is the approach of a new June 1941. But Germany, too, should have a clear understanding that the anti-Russian policy of the West in Eastern Europe is the approach of a new May 1945.
Alexander Nosovich, Rubaltic.Ru