And yet the Europeans are too cowardly to launch sabotage programs against the russians without US backing.
That being said, respect to Poland and the Baltic nations for taking a sober understanding of what the russians are like.
Merkel and Schroeder are some of the biggest enabler of russian genocidal imperialism in recent years.
I don’t think we should fight fire with fire. IMHO the way forward is complete political and economical isolation and containment of Russia.
Step one is sanctioning any form of business with Russia and pressure neutral states via secondary sanctions to do the same. Yes, this means breaking up BRICS. Revoke any visas not related to diplomatic missions to make sure even the average citizen understands they are not welcome with this behaviour of their state. Side note: This does not mean turning away people seeking political asylum. As expansion of both earlier points expand seizure of assets of influencal Russian figures.
Next either finally give Ukraine what they need to take back their internationally recognized territory or directly intervene with troops. Push the Russians out of Ukraine, draw a big red line on the border and add some “Stay out” signs for good measure.
Thirdly drastically increase support for countries such as Moldova and Georgia which are under heavy pressure from Russian interference and pave the way towards EU membership if they so desire. Yes, this will be twisted into another “Russia is getting surrended” spin and guess what it is true: Russia is getting surrounded by people who are fed up with their bullshit.
Removal of sanctions gets tied to multiple factors. I.e. reparations to Ukraine and removal of senior political leadership including and foremost Putin from office.
Reacting to those 5yo provocative actions may lead to a war that no European wants. Not sure it’s just cowardice though, economical interests might have a role in the decision-making process.
And appeasing them has not led to war?
If they make small incursions into the Baltic nations, would you also support appeasement and enabling such actions?
The reason I ask is that I have close friends living in the central EU and they’ve definitely mentioned the presence of an attitude of cowardice among certain people “let them have the Baltics, they probably won’t get to us”.
What are those economic interests? What is the number? What is it as a percentage of annual EU GDP?
And yet the Europeans are too cowardly
As a European, I concur. Though I am quite sure there is a lot going on behind the scenes that we’re not privy to. For all her faults, I miss Angela Merkel. She was a galvanizing power of the EU, she wouldn’t have none of this shit.
edit: upon further review, I have a more tempered attitude towards Merkel’s legacy. Getting involved with Russian gas was such a magnificently stupid idea from the start, I remember back then even thinking, what the shit, we are going to let European energy be dictated by the whims of Putin? That doesn’t sound like a great plan. But money…
