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.
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…
Of course there is support by EU of Ukrainian strikes against Russia.
But EU is not directly targeting russia even though russia is directly targeting the EU (including drone attacks and airspace violations).
The EU can’t even arrest Timchenko who is a citizen of Finland.
Not to mention basic counter-intelligencence programs such as a review of all russian citizen and permanent residents (e.g. benefiting form the putin regime, but also evidence of support for genocidal imperialism on social media) in Europe.
Thank god Merkel wasn’t the Chancellor when the russians launched the full scale invasion. For Ukraine, she would have been far worse than Trump. She would have sold us out for extermination by the russians (don’t forget Bucha and the massive kill list and internment program that was planned by the russians following “victory in three days”).
Even in retirement she is working for the russians:
Ex-German chancellor Merkel blames Poland and Baltic States for war in Ukraine (Oct 2025)
I hope she ends up in a russian interment camp. But that is unfortunately unlikely to happen. I will settle for her getting Alzheimer’s (I don’t say that lightly, close family member had it, it’s a nightmare).
Not to mention basic counter-intelligencence programs such as a review of all russian citizen and permanent residents
This is a big one, I have never heard anyone speak of it. In spite of Russian operatives being caught red handed on sovereign European soil time and again. Just imagine, in the days of the iron curtain and the KGB, when they sent spies and agents to infiltrate the highest level of governments all over the world back then. And today? Why, they can just waltz straight across any border with impunity, they must be laughing at the intelligence defence of Europe. Of course, democracy is kind of predicated upon openness and cooperation, it’s a strength, not a weakness, until the fascists come and break up the party.
edit: upon reading the article, I must say that the assertion that she blames the Baltic states is overstated. She was proposing a strategy for dealing with Russia before the invasion that was shot down by the Baltics.
I used to live in russia (this was before they invaded Georgia). I have former friends who I know are supporters of russian genocidal imperialism (that’s why they became former friends), you can most probably still find the evidence for this on their social media.
That being said, based on chatting with another friend who uses FB, they are bit more careful these days and tend to go with more implicit public statements of support “I hope there will be peace soon and I can visit Moscow via a direct flight from London”.
Yeah everyone is on board with fascist imperialism until it starts interfering with their vacation plans.
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.
Agreed. In fact the money and opportunism lies at the heart of tons of European problems. As long as we let our societies be guided by a profit motive instead of what we actually want and cherish and aspire to, things will only continue to devolve into chaos.
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?
Exactly. It’s the classic salami slice method. Push a bit more, and if nothing happens go a bit further. They’ll keep doing that until they’re standing in Brussels or there is a serious reaction and pushback.
Have you seen Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal? There is a scene when he first starts out filming, and he shoots a scene, and a cop tells him to step back, and in a split second you can see in his eyes, “and what if I don’t?”. And he doesn’t move, and the cops goes for him, so he sprints away.
That’s this.
“How far can I push this? What are the consequences? If there aren’t any, I’ll keep doing it.”
I’m not supporting anyone, I don’t know what’s the best way to deal with Russia, what i know is that if any European country decides to retaliate, that would be enough material for russian propaganda to legitimate further acts of war. But I may be wrong :)
That’s fair.
enough material for russian propaganda to legitimate further acts of war.
You should watch some russian propaganda. They already show “news” pieces about how their nukes can reach London and other European cities. That ship has sailed.
I think those are more emergent properties of many separate individual interests looking out only for themselves. I’d say “because money” is a big one in explaining why the working class is often less revolutionary than they are scared and pacified. Nobody wants to fight a war. Except Russia.
I don’t disagree (look at Schroeder, he is still walking free), but my point stands, the number is a tiny percentage of EU GDP.
Even the costs saving of using russian gas were something along the lines of 0.2% of EU GDP (and thats ignoring the cost of the caustic effect that the russians have had on democracy and governance in EU).
But I bet that that 0.2% of EU GDP made a HUGE difference to a handful of key players who lobbied their way into a position of profiting from it.
Exactly
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.
I agree with you on all the points that you mentioned (with the exception of “people seeking political asylum”, with some qualifiers), however, I think you misunderstand the mentality of the overwhelming majority of russians who support genocidal imperialism.
Remember that when WW2 began, the russians collaborated with the Nazis to split up Europe. To this day, even allegedly liberal russians (who publicly oppose the full scale invasion) don’t really recognize this. They still think that people believe their victim-hood narratives and don’t see them for who they really are. This is a key point in understanding russian mentality and finding effective solutions to dealing with them.
These measures you describe are fundamentally carrots. There is nothing in what you’re saying that would affect the calculus of any russian. From the poorer ones in the provinces, to the rich professionals in Moscow to the leadership and oligarchs. The “costs” inherent to your proposals do not represent a risk of loss to change their behaviour.
You mention fighting fire with fire. I am not calling for a pointless suicide march. I am calling for a sober approach to truly raising the costs for all russians.
The first point is recognizing that russia is a continental empire that is currently occupying many independent nation and I am not about Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The list is much longer.
You need the strike the underbelly of the their colonial empire. Provide freedom fighters in countries like Chechnya with monetary and financial support, so the population at large feels that they have a chance to get rid of the russians. Provide them with weapons (at least manpads) so they can take down russian planes. Intel so they can utilize senior collaborators like Kadyrov.
It’s not only about Chechnya and Dagestan, but Buryatyi, Komi Republic, Yukutia…
Utilize the children of senior leadership and oligarchs when they are on vacation in Dubai or the Maldives.
Provide financial support for developing the language and culture of occupied peoples. Show them that they have a chance.
I strongly disagree with providing “political asylum” to ethnic russians (with some exceptions for individuals truly opposed to imperialism).
Look at Vladimir Kara-Murza, the darling of the west, who was freed in a prison exchange.
Let’s see, what does he think about russian imperialism:
“I spoke with a colleague who works extensively with prisoners of war on both sides. So she had spoken a lot with Ukrainian prisoners of war who had been released from Russia, and with Russian prisoners of war who are still in Ukraine. And she told me there’s another reason why Russian Defense Ministry recruits so many representatives of these national minorities — because, allegedly, they say it’s psychologically really difficult for Russians to kill Ukrainians. Because it is… Because we are the same… We are the same, these are very closely related peoples, as everyone knows. We have almost the same language, the same religion, centuries and centuries of shared history… But if it’s someone who comes from another culture, allegedly, it’s easier. That’s what this colleague told me yesterday. I had never thought of it that way. For me, it was mostly about economic reasons, but since she told me that yesterday, I’ve started thinking about that too.”
Same fucking bullshit about “same people” and some racism on top.
And this is Vladimir Kara-Murza, can you imagine what goes through the head of the average russian?
I really hope it is aliens because if it’s the Russians this is a prelude to war.
Even if it isnt russians this time, theyve been probing around in brussels. Drones over military bases, ddos of one of the bigger isp’s in belgium this week etc etc. I think, personally, something is hanging above our heads but im also sure belgium and eu have their hands full with how to handle the situation. Its like defusing a bomb lol
Hands so full the Belgian prime minister had to fly to Egypt for the opening of the new museum.
Aliens are so hot right now.
