Thursday, July 10, 2014


Old Europe Going Decay

Vladimir SEDOV | 11.07.2014 | 00:00

For more than twenty years Western Europe and Russia have cautiously and gradually approached each other reaching progress in boosting mutually advantageous cooperation. It’s not the case anymore. There is something rotten emerged drawing a partition line between the West and the East of the Eurasian continent. The parts are divided by a trench filled with Anglo-Saxon poison. Russia has worked out at least some kind of immunity. The continental Europe is much more vulnerable. It is still under the illusion of such a thing as «Atlantic solidarity». It does not realize that the United States and Great Britain are as hostile to it as to Russia. 
The going on competition for minerals and markets between the United States, the European Union, Japan and the emerging economies of BRICS is an irrefutable fact. Russia is a factor that may tip the future balance – it decides if the Anglo-Saxon alliance (the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand) will continue to dominate the world or will it become multipolar, when launching a war becomes a risky thing for anyone. 
Washington and London realize well that the mutually advantageous cooperation between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, which in future could be added by China, India and other Asian countries, will diminish the Europe’s interests towards the relationship with the United States and undermine the so-called «Atlantic solidarity». With no threat visible in the East, Europeans will hardly want to take part in the Washington and London-led military adventures in Africa and Asia. That’s why Anglo-Saxons try to drive a wedge between the European Union and Russia, to weaken the Russian state and in ideal to have it disintegrated to lay its paws on Russian mineral riches.  In other words they want to have Russia moved away from the grand chessboard to have dependent Europe playing by their rules.  
A question pops up: why are Europeans so pliant? Why do they let Anglo-Saxons drag them into the stand-off with Russia because of internal conflict in Ukraine? The crisis was started and turned into a civil war upon Washington’s instructions supported by its European satellites – Poland and the Baltic States. 
Suppose the foreign chiefs of Germany and France were sincere putting their signatures on the agreement that envisioned to peacefully settle the Maidan crisis and holding early presidential election in Ukraine. So in this case Washington simply had them duped. The very next day armed Pravy Sector gangs and Maidan self-defense units staged an armed coup putting Paris and Berlin into an awkward situation. 
Having agreed with the results of the coup and leaving aside the idea of staying adamant to demand the implementation of the provisions envisioned by the February 21 accords, the leading powers of the European Union actually admitted their impotence and inability to influence the events in Ukraine facing the United States interference. Then why should Europeans oppose the fact that Russia did not remain idle and took steps to stop the aggression in the vicinity of its borders? The «old» Europeans certainly understand that Russia has its interests in Ukraine that must be protected.   
Since the Soviet Union was partitioned, the United States have not even tried to hide the fact that Ukraine was seen as a «spoiler», a «wrecker» which is not strong enough to be an independent player on the world stage, but can complicate the things for others while serving the interests of Washington, the «strategic partner», according to the Kiev’s vision of the world.  Europeans can clearly see the implications of such partnership. Anglo-Saxons have taken under their control the territory between the Baltic and the Black seas which is important for trade between the European Union and the Eurasian Union.  Actually invited as consultants and advisers, Americans and Poles are free to do as they please in all Ukrainian ministries and agencies behaving like bosses. There is no such thing as independent Ukrainian policy anymore: Kiev is obedient and does as it is told overseas. It applies to the issue of Russian gas supplies to Europe, the continuation of the «punitive operation» in Donbass no matter all the attempts undertaken by Moscow, Berlin, Paris and others to find a peaceful settlement.  
Ukraine has become an instrument of permanently keeping up tensions in the relationship between Europe and Russia or, if need be, a tool of provoking large-scale anti-Russian actions… 
The West Europe is more dragged into the obligation of shouldering cumbersome military burden.  The permanent stationing of NATO forces at the borders with Russia and Belarus (upon the request of US satellites) will ultimately spoil the atmosphere of trust that started to shape between the European Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. 
Europe will hardly evade the negative implications of spontaneous foreign policy actions undertaken under the pressure of «Atlantic partnership». The abrupt collapse of Ukrainian economy will make tighten the belts not the Americans and the British but rather the European Union taxpayers living in the continental Europe.  Guenther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Energy in the European Commission,    says an economic revival of Ukraine will require much more than that the European Union has spent on Greece.   The prospect will hardly make Europeans happy. 
The European Union is surprisingly adamant on its way of destroying the Ukrainian economy as a result of EU association policy to deprive Europe of any profit from exporting goods to this country because of living standards going down. 
The unemployment in Ukraine has overt and covert forms. In the period since January till April 2014 20% lost jobs going on unpaid furlough or were employed partially. The wages and other payments are frozen against the background of running high inflation. Small and medium businesses are going bankrupt. In the first quarter of 2014 the export went down by 7, 3% while import reduced by 21, 1%. The import from Germany went down by 26%, from France – down by 24, 5%, Poland – down 22, 4%, Italy – down 15, 2%. (1) Export and services imports went down by 10%. (2)
The Ukrainian market got narrowed down for Europeans. The trend is to continue. Now what does the European Union get having signed the association agreement? The answer is hanging in the air.  This is kind of corrosion of European mentality. What’s good for the United States and Great Britain does not necessarily meet the interests of other EU members. Can they not understand it? Is it senility? I have pity for the old Granma Europe.  
Whatever it is, there is still a chance.  The undermining by Washington of peaceful efforts exerted by France and Germany in Ukraine, the spying rows when the US special services tapped the phones and e-mails of top European Union officials and leaders of European states, the recent revelation of US spying activities in Germany – all told, these factors raise great doubts the about the faithfulness of Anglo-Saxons to the idea of «Atlantic partnership»… It all starts to make Europeans see things in different light. 
The Der Tagesspiegel March 6, 2014 poll was stunning for the government of Germany.  They even quickly took it away from the newspaper pages.  9420 respondents were asked questions about the events in Crimea (it was still Ukrainian at the time). Only 4% supported a military intervention of NATO into Ukraine. 78% said US State Secretary John Kerry and Chancellor Angela Merkel were called hypocrites while Russia was viewed as a state protecting its legal rights. (3)  
The TNS Company also conducted an even more representational survey for Der Spiegel, according to a new survey conducted on Spiegel's behalf by pollster TNS Forschung, the majority of Germans believe the country should depend less on the United States. 57% supported this view while 60 % said they lost trust towards the North American ally. 50% supported Germany’s more independent stand towards Russia, 40 % believe Germany should cooperate with Russia more closely. (4)
This is something to think about for Berlin, as well as Kiev. 
(1) http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/express/expr2014/05_14/126.zip
(2) http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/express/expr2014/05_14/127.zip
(3) http://russian.rt.com/inotv/2014-03-20/Ischeznuvshij-opros-nemcev-o-Rossii
(4) http://russian.rt.com/inotv/2014-07-07/Nemci-viskazivayutsya-za-nezavisimost-ot
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/07/11/old-europe-going-decay.html

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