opinion
The Russian President is annexing more parts of Ukraine in a bizarrely choreographed propaganda. The country in Eastern Europe can no longer feel safe – and Germany has to recognize: Nord Stream 2 is brain dead.
For a long time it was said that the first casualty of war is the truth. It’s over. The truth died in Ukraine long before the war, which doesn’t even exist officially – Russia itself says it rather secures “peace”. The truth is not replaced by a simple lie, but by weeks of theatre, by a staged crisis, invented threats, reversals and reinterpretations – coolly choreographed propaganda, at the end of which a partial annexation of the territories of a sovereign state results in “peacekeeping”. will.
These days we are witnessing one of the most bizarre and at the same time most dangerous geopolitical scenarios, which is challenging Europe anew because it can be repeated as often as you like, throughout Ukraine, but also in other countries: you invent a crisis up to a “genocide”, then recognizes the territories as independent states, which from then on must be protected as a “friend”.
A new form of freezing hybrid war
“Putin just eclipsed Kafka and Orwell,” Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonyte said aptly on Monday. “There are no limits to a dictator’s imagination, no bottom too low, no lie too blatant, no red line too red to cross. What we have witnessed tonight may seem surreal for the democratic world. But the nature and The way we respond will shape us for generations to come.”
It is neither a hot nor a cold war that Russia is waging here. It is a new form of an ice-cold, hybrid war, in which there does not even have to be an official declaration of war, because in just invented states with soldiers you only “secure the peace” and offer them “assistance” with the help of “treats on Friendship”.
In this respect, Russia’s actions are not just a relapse into the logic of the 18th and 19th centuries. After all, the architecture of the great European powers knew the classic categories of war and peace and played according to these rules. And in the case of territorial incorporations, such as the “Polish partitions” between Russia, Prussia and Austria-Hungary, appearances were not maintained or reinterpreted as to what these actions were: annexations by large and strong at the expense of smaller and weaker states.
NATO has a task again
Vladimir Putin, who has been keeping the world in suspense for weeks and has puzzled all heads of state and presidents after receiving them at his absurdly long table, has decided for the second time since 2014 to violate borders in violation of international law. We can no longer hope that he will give up on this.
His motives have often been described: the end of the Soviet Union as a catastrophe, the desire to undermine and rebuild the European security architecture – and to make the world safe for autocrats. No country in Eastern Europe can feel more secure. Nato membership alone offers a protective shield, but a fragile one whose price has now been inflated. NATO, which was described as “brain dead” just a few years ago, once again has an imperative, a task: to preserve the remnants of the 1990 peace order.
And there is no need to be under any illusions about what Putin intends to do with Ukraine as a whole, which he branded as a made-up Western puppet regime. In his speech he again spoke about the history of Ukrainian statehood, whose independence he sees as a mistake because it is a product of the Soviet Union. Putin doesn’t even have to act immediately and “secure the peace” in Kiev, for example. He can now wait again and escalate at any time. He created the blueprint, Russia remains a pariah state on call.
Russia is ready to pay a heavy price
The West, which allegedly threatens the very existence of Russia with its “blackmailing” sanctions policy, unfortunately remains powerless in the face of this. Is this the “minor incursion” that US President Joe Biden fatally spoke of a few weeks ago, just the “minor raid”? One shouldn’t hope for it. The first wave of sanctions will not deter Putin from his master plan. Russia is ready to pay the price the West has named.
It is often cynical to talk about money or energy when lives are threatened in a country. But Germany has to do it: Our country, which played an important role with its diplomacy in Moscow, but played a miserable role in relation to Ukraine, is at a point where it is not only playing its role in the security policy of Europe and NATO readjust, but has to rethink and reorganize its energy supply. Nord Stream 2 has been brain dead since Monday night.
Source: Stern
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
