Posted on 05/27/2022 11:05:34 AM PDT by Mount Athos
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to create a new alliance, an alternative to the EU, that could include the Baltic states as well, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera has reported citing its sources.
This alliance could include, in addition to the UK and Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and possibly later Turkey.
Johnson believes that the members of the alliance would be motivated by their distrust of Brussels and their frustration with Berlin’s reaction to Russian aggression, united by enthusiasm for national sovereignty, liberal market economy, and a completely unambiguous assessment of the military threat posed by Moscow.
According to Corriere della Sera’s sources, Johnson presented his pitch to Zelensky during their meeting in Kyiv on April 9. Kyiv has not expressed any position on the matter.
According to the newspaper, Zelensky is looking forward to the EU summit on June 23 where European leaders may decide whether to grant Ukraine candidate status and to open formal negotiations on the country’s membership of the EU. However, if Ukraine is presented with a more abstract formula for a “European perspective”, Zelensky may consider Johnson’s proposals more seriously, Corriere della Sera notes.
Whether Poland and the Baltic States would agree to such an alliance is also unclear. One European minister noted that Johnson was merely trying to win political dividends with such proposals.
Lithuania has not yet received a concrete proposal regarding British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s idea for an alternative alliance, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Friday.
However, Lithuania’s top diplomat underlined the need to strengthen existing alliances.
“We have not seen any concrete proposal. We have no idea what its content is, how real and how serious it is,” Landsbergis told reporters after the Vilnius Russia Forum.
“But nevertheless, [it is necessary] to strengthen NATO, to resolve the dilemmas that we are facing, for example, the Turkish veto, not to close the door, not to deny Ukraine and the other countries the possibility to join NATO – this is the most serious security guarantee in the future – until Ukraine can join NATO, to help Ukraine to join NATO and then to have armed forces and a defence system that meets NATO standards,” he said.
Landsbergis said he believed these were realistic objectives.
Can do the same for Finland and Sweden if Turkey blocks their membership in NATO.
Just leave the US out of it.
“Just leave the US out of it.”
Why?
Why?
Because they would just soak us for money like the U.N.
the eu sucks
Because we are not Euros.
Precisely. NATO should have been disbanded 20 years ago, 10 years after its only reason for existence was thrown out on the ash heap of history.
Amen to that. I am so tired of supporting sponging, communist Eurotrash.
UK just got it’s sovereignty back. Now Boris wants to unionize with Eastern Europe.
The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation.
Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.
George Washington, September 19, 1796
I don’t think GW anticipated a world where Europe was 8 hours away by airplane or 40 minutes away by ICBM, and where communications between the two took milliseconds. In his day, you were doing well if a letter from Europe to the US arrived in a month.
Exactly.
The Baltic states, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, really don’t bring any offensive military power to this alliance. UK can bring some air power, but unless they stock up on precision strike weapons, they won’t be very effective for very long. Poland has significant ground forces. To be a serious threat to Russia, the alliance would need Turkey and a significantly rearmed Ukraine. And lots of money. UK sure has been hawkish lately. Reminds me of the saying about alligator mouth, hummingbird ass etc...
Great Headline (considering Johnson is only the 5th most common surname in the English speaking world, and there are LITERALLY a BILLION people of that name).
This is actually very interesting!
This is not so much about helping Ukraine as a move to advance specifically British interests: to survive as a major power Brits must have their own economic zone.
And that means destroying the EU!
I hope we don’t have shortages of popcorn.
“in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics”
French and Indian War: UK and the British Empire, Iroquois Confederacy, Cherokee Nation versus Kingdom of France Algonquin, and other native nations
American Revolution: United States, France, Spanish Empire versus Great Britain, German Auxiliaries, Cherokee Nation
Quasi-War: United States and UK vs. French Republic and Guadeloupe
War of 1812: United States, Choctaw and Cherokee Nations versus UK and British Canada (the US shortly turned on her allies under Jackson’s Trail of Tears)
World War I: Italy, France, UK, British Commonwealth, Russia, Japan, United States, Romania, Canada, Australia versus German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria
World War II: UK, Soviet Union, United States, British Commonwealth, Benelux countries, China, Ethiopia, Yugoslavia versus German Reich, Italy, Empire of Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovak Republic
Cold War: Japan, South Korea, Turkey, UK, British Commonwealth, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Benelux, Greece versus Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Vietnam, Cuba
Current War in Ukraine: Ukraine and NATO countries including the United States versus Russia, Belarus, Donetsk People’s Republic, Luhansk Peoples Republic
So Washington was right. There are always shifting alliances and allegiances. They should be avoided when unnecessary. About the most enduring alliance the United States has is with the rest of the former British Empire, and that wasn’t really formalized until World War I.
Even though we live in a more connected world does not mean consequences of entangling wars were any less in the past than they are now. In some instances entire nations went extinct, that is everyone died (Beothuk Nation in Newfoundland, for example).
So at least 5 billion people (out of nearly 8 billion alive) have one of the five most common English surnames?
Maybe if you delete Biden's fake Twitter followers, the number of Johnsons becomes much less than one billion.
So, another alliance to pen strongly worded letters? I’m not sure that will move the needle much.
They are talking seriously about having troops from these countries man the Ukrainian border with Belarus, to free many Ukrainian troops to fight elsewhere.
But there are many obvious problems with this
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