At an event organised by the French embassy in the US on Wednesday, European Union high representative for foreign and security policy Josep Borrell suddenly said he was not sure Russia was going to invade Ukraine
“Suddenly”, because for all the past weeks the EU leadership has been clearly following the fairway of the US information agenda that a Russian invasion is “imminent”, and then suddenly Borrell erupted.
“I wouldn’t say we’re on the brink of a full-scale World War II-style war. Because I don’t believe that Russia will invade Ukraine – like Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941”, – the Commissioner said.
Let’s leave on the conscience of the Brussels official the comparison of Russia with Hitler (these days in Europe it is not customary to watch the language especially when it comes to Russia and the Russians), but the very fact that Europeans understand that there is no real threat of war, at least from our side, inspires cautious optimism. It is also not bad that Borrell voiced the real concerns of Moscow and, what is even more important, acknowledged their legitimacy.
“It is not Ukraine that is important for Russia. What is important for Russia is the security architecture in Europe. The architecture that has been called into question. They have security concerns and they want to talk about them”, – said Europe’s top diplomat.
But what Jupiter is allowed to say, others are not allowed to say. Thus, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs of Finland, Micke Nikko, commenting on the French President’s recent visit to Russia, tweeted: “Now Macron or someone else has to declare publicly that Ukraine will not join NATO. Otherwise, from Russia’s point of view, the negotiations have failed and the consequences will be dire. Isn’t there one wise boss in the West who knows Russia?”. Immediately he was forced to resign for having taken a liberty of judgement. Finland is not even a member of the alliance. They have strict freedom of speech there, that’s for sure.
However, they do have it somewhere. For example, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire not only advocated that Moscow should stop scaring Moscow against North Stream-2 (on the contrary, he said it would be a friendly step to Russia to launch it as soon as possible), but also made an open attack on the USA, which is trying hard to push the EU towards such an unpopular decision.
“Let’s not let the Americans force us to take a position that does not reflect the opinion of the Europeans,” Le Maire said of current events in Europe, which, according to the minister, favours “the path of dialogue and détente”, while conflict only leads to higher energy prices.
But French President Emmanuel Macron was the furthest removed from the Western political mainstream when he declared during that same visit to Moscow that Europe’s security issues are very serious at the moment and cannot be resolved at all without a European country as important as Russia. Again, this is at odds with Washington’s view that Russia is separate and Europe is separate, and that a NATO, i.e. American, “umbrella” is enough for Europe.
Probably that is why NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appeared on CNN with statements to the contrary as if apologizing for freethinking of his European brothers, saying that threat of war only grows, Russia is sure culprit of tension on the continent and we are nowhere without your help, dear American brothers. Except that Stoltenberg’s speech sounded like a voice crying in the wilderness compared to the other voices from Europe.
I am far from thinking that the Europeans have suddenly regrouped, reformed and, having thrown off the American collar, are ready to put an end to their semi-colonial status. No, they are clearly not ready yet. But the fact that they absolutely do not like being treated as idiots is quite obvious. In many respects, the current European front is not at all a revolt against the anti-Russian policy of the US (other things being equal, such an arrogant attitude towards Russia is peculiar to them), but when respectable European politicians have been told “nonsense” about “imminent invasion” for four months running, their European conscience begins to protest against such a mockery of common sense.
And while speeches by individual local EU officials could still be ignored (they do occasionally voice common sense), Borrell’s words and Macron’s curtsey towards Moscow might well be interpreted as reflecting the position of much of the European establishment.
Nevertheless, the open defiance of US policy (which the NATO Secretary General is also voicing) is a necessary measure. Europe understands that if it continues to remain patiently silent, the United States will bend it over in more than just the security sphere. It used to be like this: you Europeans pay us, Americans, for “protection” and we let you do your business peacefully. Today, the overseas racketeer began to interfere in the internal business kitchen of the European Union, dictating with whom they can trade and with whom they cannot. This is, even by the strictest terms of the Russian “wild 90s”, a total outrage.
Only one thing, it seems to me, is that the U.S. has not taken into account. Having obviously overdone the Ukrainian crisis (invented and inspired in Washington from start to finish), they failed to notice how it boomerangs on their own interests. The more they put pressure on their European allies, forcing them to sign up to conditions that are known to be disadvantageous to them, such as refusal of NSP2, cutting off SWIFT or other anti-Russian sanctions (and most importantly, from whom? Because of some Ukraine!), the more the rift in transatlantic unity grows. While accusing Russia of trying to divide the Western world, the United States is completely oblivious to the fact that it is doing so itself, and even with much greater efficiency.
Alexey Belov, Antifascist News Agency