Wake up Europe! The soviet beast is not dead after all.
This week’s events have shown two things:
- Russia is slipping back into the USSR mode minus the communist baggage. Now that Putin has effectively rid himself of all anti-government press and allowed only pro-Putin companies to survive, he now has a free hand to pursue his totalitarian dream. How better to test the will of the international community than attack a defenceless country like Georgia.
- Europe is emasculated because of its reliance on Russian gas and dares not voice its dismay against what is, for all intents and purposes, blatant invasion.
What worries me the most is that this is a replay of Hitler’s ploy to attack a small neighbouring country under the fiction of defence. In WWII no-one said anything for fear of antagonising a powerful neighbour. This time Russia has attacked a small neighbouring country under the fiction of defending ethnic Russians. Now, no-one is saying ANYTHING for fear of antagonising a powerful neighbour. Erm - parallels anyone?
It is true that in the 1930s we did not have a security council, however, I’m forced to conclude that in 2008 we don’t have one either. Russia is a permanent vetoing member of the security council, so no matter what people say, it counts for zilch.
There is something else at stake. Georgia is the only way to bypass Russian control of the vast Azerbaijani oil and gas fields. If Russia deposes the current pro-western, pro NATO, pro EU government, the result will be total Russian domination of EU energy for at least the next 10 years. Don’t think that Russia will sit on its hands during the time it takes for Europe to sort out alternatives. We are definitely in the firing line here.
Where are our leaders in all this? Completely absent! Except for the French president making token visits to Georgia and now Russia, where he will say nothing, other EU leaders have remained shamefully silent.
For us in the UK, Brown’s silence is just pathetic. He probably hasn’t noticed. And if he has, he’s probably agonising over what to do - a bit like everything else. But back to my original point…
We are in serious danger of letting the Russia get out of hand. If NATO and the EU have any guts, they will immediately make sure that Georgia becomes a fast track member of both organisations. Yes, it will irritate that gnome of the Kremlin (Putin), but it will send a message that we will not allow Russia to bully Georgia nor will we allow our dependence on gas to give him Carte Blanche to do what he likes on this continent. World wars have been fought for less. The sooner we stop Russia’s domination dreams the better.
Today the president of Georgia intimated that he would welcome EU peacekeepers. He said it in a way which left no doubt as to whether he thought this would be likely. However, The EU countries should move tanks into Georgia and SAM missile sites into the region. That way the new bully-boy of the world will think twice before sending fighters to bomb the Georgian capital.
In WW2 we were late in entering the war and paid for it. This time we can defend not only Georgia’s independence, but our own too.