Posted on 11/26/2004 12:30:00 PM PST by Ginifer
LONDON -- The Ukrainian election impasse has brought new attention to one of the world's worst-kept political secrets: The leaders of Russia and Europe, beneath their friendly façades, see each other more and more as gigantic whirlpools trying to suck away one another's financial and strategic resources.
That was immediately apparent yesterday when Russian President Vladimir Putin made a fog-enshrouded flight to The Hague to meet with leaders of the European Union. It was meant to be a summit to discuss sharing influence in the countries that sit between the two powers, but the Ukrainian situation destroyed any illusion of friendly co-operation and revealed deep and possibly permanent disagreements.
Mr. Putin began yesterday morning by sending a telegram to Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, whom the Kremlin had backed. It declared him the winner and boasted that he would "bring the Russian-Ukrainian strategic partnership to a new level."
Soon afterward, he stood on a podium with European leaders who said that the election was fraudulent and implied that Russia should stay away. Mr. Putin then openly denounced European efforts to negotiate a fair election result and said that the situation in Ukraine was not a European problem. By last night, EU foreign-policy minister Javier Solana had announced that he would travel to Ukraine today to try to reach "a negotiated diplomatic settlement" to the impasse.
As the meeting's original agenda disappeared into the gloom, the leaders sounded increasingly like large fish circling around a small and wounded minnow.
"I am deeply convinced that [the EU] has absolutely no moral right to push this large European country into mass-scale unrest of any sort," Mr. Putin said of European efforts to scrutinize the vote. "I do not think other countries can recognize or refuse to recognize the elections in Ukraine. This is the Ukrainian people's business."
Those words reflected a growing fear of EU dominance felt by Mr. Putin and his colleagues.
That fear was spelled out in explicit detail last week by Konstantin Kosachev, a close ally of Mr. Putin and chairman of the Duma committee on foreign affairs. In a speech to the Russian legislature, he expressed what are said to be Mr. Putin's deep fears of an expanding EU driving America and the rest of the world away from an increasingly feeble Russia.
Mr. Kosachev warned that Europe "before our eyes, is slowly but surely drawing in, like a giant whirlpool, our neighbours. Russia, obviously, feels this strong gravitational pull."
He warned of "a growing confrontation in post-Soviet territory" in which "Western critics are increasingly frequently accusing Russia of pursuing imperialistic goals," while "these countries [such as Ukraine and its neighbours] are forced to accept an anti-Russian orientation."
The EU's financial assistance, in the view of Mr. Kosachev and many other Russian officials, is a form of bribery to draw countries such as Ukraine out of the Russian economic and political sphere and into Europe, in effect turning Russia into an isolated, economically feeble power.
"Eastern European countries are constantly offered participation in Western European structures as a sort of 'refuge' from Russia in order to neutralize its influence," he said.
As the summit collapsed into mutual accusations, the Russian and European leaders were able to find official agreement on only one major point: Neither power wants to see the Ukraine crisis resolved in a violent fashion.
Putin said he wasn't going to sell nuclear fuel to Iran. A couple days later Beslan happens. Then we have iran turning to france, germany, etc. demanding nuclear parts and help, and getting it. They're helping iran, now, the same way clinton did n. korea.
"irregularities, irregularities, irregularities"?
Everybody keeps talking about irregularities, what are they? Facts please! NO forget about facts, I haven't even heard what the irregularities are. Tell me were the dimple chads not counted, WHAT IS IT?
My personal opinion is that these “irregularities” are non-existent. They are an excuse that the EU is using to explain to the world why the Ukrainians voted against their wishes.
Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com
Never forget that the frogs provided safe haven for the godfather of islamist terrorism, the ayatollah ruhollah khomeni.
That would be rather like balancing a nasty hangover with a massive head trauma.
bump
Jimbol wrote (a couple days ago):
“If you think Powell was freelancing, you are very naive person.”
I still think Powell acted Independently of Bush. He is a loose cannon, who is on his way out the door.
I still love you jimbol even when your mean to me. LOL
Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com
I agree, except to the extent that even interests can be transitory if the geopolitical context changes.
Our main interest in the old world is to avoid a consolidation of power on the Eurasian landmass.
It is one of our main interests, yes.
We need to be cold blooded in our foreign policy rather than sentimental
No argument, here.
Chirac has not allowed sentiment over the liberation of France 60 years ago to play any role in the foreign policy of France.
Chirac is nothing but a loud-mouthed French whore and a joke. His time on the national stage has come and gone, and the only reason he is even still discussed is because of the Freedom Fries brigade here in the US. France represents as much of a threat to US interests as, say, Burkina Faso. Too many conservatives here in the US get distracted by him because he has a knack for annoying us.
Russia, on the other hand, retains some formidable military and strategic capabilities. Putin is marshalling those capabilities to attempt the restoration of the old Soviet empire. Witness his repression of ALL free media outlets in Russia. His centralization of power in Moscow. His piecemeal attempts to re-nationalize strategic industries. His interference in Belarus. His attempted hijacking of the Ukrainian elections. Do not underestimate this man or his nation.
Our interests would be best served by a unified Ukraine entering the European Union. Why? We would be "killing two bireds with one stone." First, the center of European power would tilt even more to the East (and our "New Europe" allies). Second, it would, at least temporarily, halt Putin's momentum in reconstituting the Soviet empire.
Understand that I am not saying that Russia (or even Putin) is all bad. We need them as a buffer against Chinese influence in Central Asia. But we do NOT need them pushing their borders back toward the West. Not now. Not ever.
If there is one thing Colin Powell is not, it is a loose cannon.
Time will tell.
"Putin said he wasn't going to sell nuclear fuel to Iran."
Oh well if Putin said something than it must be true. I suppose Putin also said that he wouldn't ship weapons into Iraq either. Putin already did sell nuclear fuel to Iran, along with the parts to build a nuclear reactor. Don't forget the missle technology and parts either. They don't even need any more parts from France because they are already well on their way to having a nuclear weapon with the supplies provided by your friends in Moscow.
You don't need to convince me that France is corrupt, but you've had one too many freedom fries. Russia is a much bigger threat to world peace than France. I don't think France had 5,000 nuclear weapons that it cannot keep track of. Russian also supplied Hussein's military and they continue to supply the Iranian military along with China. Have you ever noticed that every enemy America has fought in the past 40 years has been supplied with AK-47s and MIGs. Those are not made in France.
LOL. That's a great way of putting it!.
Unfortunately, our enemies in the 21st century will be fighting us with modified versions of our own weaponry, "made in China."
Just another facet of the "Clinton legacy."
"Unfortunately, our enemies in the 21st century will be fighting us with modified versions of our own weaponry, "made in China.""
That is a frightening prospect. I've never really thought about the threat of China in that exact context, but it is all but inevitable. Hopefully we can stay ahead of them, or at least tied with them in the technological arms race of the next century. Some people think that we never needed a military again because the Berlin wall came down. I hope Bush makes some major progress advancing our military capabilities, so that China will have even more trouble catching up to us.
The only real budget cuts Clinton made during his 8 years were to the military. Other departments just got "growth reductions."
History will not be kind to that man.
fairopinion is a Russian who thinks that the Ukrainian people are subhuman and don't deserve freedom. that they need to have Russia in charge because they are too stupid to do it themselves. thats why he would support Putin funding yanukovich, and would not support the us, bush, Powell, NATO, EU in saying that this was a fraudulent election. with him, its Russia first. freedom for a sovereign, free, and independent nation second.
For the time being, absolutely. And for the forseeable(!) future as well.
French complaints about the American "hyperpower" began under Clinton, not Bush.
This is so true, and yet so infrequently noted. I remember telling people during the 2nd Clinton term that we were in danger of so damaging our European ties that it would be hard for any future president to repair them.
One of Clinton's many great failures in foreign policy was his failure to find a cause large enough for Europe and the US to remain united. His foreign policy was essentially the foreign policy of the old Barbary pirates--economic guerilla warfare! Rather than promoting genuine market-based capitalism in the old Soviet bloc, he permitted gangsterism to thrive while US corporations went in and bought distressed assets on the cheap.
Meanwhile, he was more interested in taking campaign contributions from the Chinese and giving them our technology than in promoting a healthy competitive relationship with them. Tragic.
I think it would be harmful to our interests to see the Ukraine incorporated into the EU. The EU may be militarily weak today but it took very little time for the Wiemar Republic to become the Third Reich. I would prefer to see the EU weakened rather than strengthened. Anyway tension between the EU and Russia works to our benefit.
I agree that tension between the EU and Russia is a good thing for us, and that is another reason why I feel our interests are served by the Ukraine joining the EU. Right now, France and Germany retain (barely) control over the EU. In order to retain that control, they must prevent the eastward expansion of the organization. This is a prime reason for Chirac's position vis a vis Turkey and the eastern European applicants. Russia and France (aside from being old allies going back many centuries) are of one mind on this issue. Both want to stop eastward expansion of the EU. Russia, because she does not want her former subjects to escape her sphere of influence, and France because she wants to retain control of Europe's destiny.
BTW--I saw your posts recently on trade policy and really enjoyed them. Are you an economist?
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