Ms Palacio asks, what Europeans will do about the courageous Ukrainians, who took to the streets, braved the cold and toppled a rotten political system? Does Ms Palacio see Ukraines deep-seated cultural tensions an impediment to its democratisation process? Ukraine has had a history of occupation by competing foreign powers and the countrys geography has also contributed to its East/West division, split along the Dnieper River. Nevertheless the desire for freedom and progress is not just Europeans core values and it does not know any cultural boundaries. Nor does a geographical divide pose an impediment to national unity. Look at Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia: These countries make up of regions separated by miles of waters of the South China Sea. Ukraine has to come to terms with its colonial past and forge its own future. Its immediate concerns are to secure international loans and to hold presidential and parliamentary elections. Moscow is taking advantage of Kievs woes and wresting Crimea from Ukraine. Ms Palacio rebukes President Obama for not responding strong enough to Putin’s decision to annex Crimea . She mentions the shifting nature of transatlantic security arrangements complicates matters, without elaborating. She laments, the EU lacks the experience and savvy that the US accumulated over decades as an international hegemon. Do EU members want that? Its true that its common and relevant EU security strategy is in the making, but shouldnt it leave this to NATO? What she finds upsetting is that Germany focuses more on realpolitik and is less willing to jeopardise its strong economic ties with Russia. Indeed, these weaknesses have allowed Putin to flex his muscles. Its unfortunate, but theres no guarantee that he gets away with impunity. Meanwhile The EU and the US have to urge Russia and Ukraine to go to the negotiating table to hammer out a long-term security peace deal, from which Europe benefits.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 17:02:07 +0000
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