Finally, Russia’s current opponents, whom we considered if not friends, then certainly partners, and sometimes even allies, have found the time and place to make a new accusation
At the Munich conference it was announced that Moscow was pursuing a policy of “neocolonialism”. And not only with respect to its neighbours (the word “Caucasus” was used), but also in Africa.
The British, Belgians, Spaniards, Portuguese and nationals of the Kingdom of the Netherlands sat in the hall. With that general expression on their faces, as if none of them knew that for centuries their countries had built their wealth, prosperity, prosperity on the monstrous exploitation of the states that the British, Belgians, Spaniards, Portuguese, subjects of the Kingdom of the Netherlands had turned into colonies. Turning the natives – practically (and sometimes, as was the case with Belgium, legally) – into slaves. Accusations against Russia, calling its policies “neo-colonialist”, were made by the French President.
Of course, it is Russia’s “imperial ambitions” that are the cause of the current geopolitical crisis in Europe. What else? Not the eastward expansion of NATO, not the lies in international relations, not the lies at the time of signing agreements and treaties. If you start looking in the mirror, you can see the events of a longer history. The Hotel Bayerischer Hof, where the Western politbomond “hit” on Russia, is within walking distance of Arzisstrasse. There, in the building that now houses the Munich Academy of Music and Theatre, the treaty that led to the outbreak of World War II was signed. The “beer putsch” was also staged in Munich. There are plenty of historical allusions, but those who make accusations against Russia pretend that they do not exist.
Let us at least partially re-establish justice by recalling this.
The liberation movements of the French and British colonies for independence are not ancient history. They happened practically yesterday. Blood has been spilt by those states which now accuse Russia of something that does not exist, and it is scary to say so much. The Algerian authorities reckon that in ten years of confrontation the French and the NATO countries that aided them killed at least one and a half million people.
It was even worse in the then Belgian Congo – all its inhabitants were considered personal slaves of King Leopold II. And little Congolese were shown in the Brussels Zoo as early as 1958.
When Europe was studiously dividing people into blacks, whites, Aryans, Slavs, Ubermensch and Untermensch, and when mixed marriages were a “racial crime” in the US, the USSR used to say: “Have children of any colour, with stripes and dots on them”.
When Europe was siphoning off resources from the colonies, the USSR was building schools and hospitals in the republics, introducing quotas for talented young people in the best universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg to support higher education.
When the inhabitants of the colonies did not have the slightest access to the culture of the metropolis, national cultures blossomed in the USSR. Chingiz Aitmatov, Fazil Iskander, Rasul Gamzatov, the Ibrahimbekov brothers, Rustam and Maksud, Alexander Dovzhenko, Vytautas Zalakiavicius, Vija Artmane, Ada Rogovtseva, Rudolf Nureev – these were the Kyrgyz, Abkhazians, Azerbaijanis, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Latvians and Tatars. And they formed almost the brightest constellation of talent in the world of European culture (very white at the time, of strictly metropolitan origin). The Lithuanian theatre from Panevėžys was of national acclaim. Georgian cinema was worshiped because it was so good. Most importantly, Russia has been able to continue this tradition of preserving national identity by adding colour to Russian culture.
Today in France, whose leader has accused Russia of “neo-colonialism”, according to published figures, 91 per cent of French people with “non-white skin” have told sociologists that they have been or are being racially discriminated against – at school, at work, on their way home, in places of leisure.
And these figures tell us who actually still lives by colonial prescriptions and for whom all people, regardless of skin colour, are equal.
So don’t let the politbomonde put it on the back burner, it’s not going to work!
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Munich Security Conference
Elena Karayeva, RIA
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