Stav
I think there is a number of problems with Russia that
should be put into perspective seen also in the context of any problems
of a warlike situation involving Russia.
In the first instance one has to look at what happened in
the case off the Ukraine under the Communists, In an effort to ensure
that Ukraine remains in bed the Communist regime redrew the Ukrainian border to
include millions of ethnic Russians in Ukraine. Fact is the Ukrainians
were never trusted by the Communist regime ever and a countering situation had
to be developed to ensure that they retain control of the Ukraine.
It is also historical and must go back to -
* the Russian conquest of Ukraine under
Catherine the Great to ensure migration of ethnic Russians into part of Ukraine and
especially into the Crimea with the result that the majority of residents ended
up being ethnic Russians;
* Stalin played a major role in that he depopulated
the Crimea through sending the ethnic Crimeans (mostly Muslims) to Siberia concentration camps and
after his much celebrated death a very small percentage of the Crimeans sent to
Siberia survived and returned to the Crimea;
* The conduct of the ethnic Ukrainians during
World War 2 showed that the Communists had to do something to neutralize the
impact of the ethnic Ukrainians - so in 1953 the borders of the Ukraine was
redrawn to ensure that in future Ukraine will remain loyal to the USSR by
having a 50:50 scenario population wise in the Ukraine.
Come 1991 and the situation was that independence of
Ukraine let to an unsustainable situation in Ukraine. The population of
the Crimea was for instance 80% ethnic Russians and after Ukraine got
independence Ukraine effectively was governed by the ethnic Russian component
of the Ukrainian population. When that changed in 2014 the situation
became explosive and the end result was that the ethnic Russians and especially
those in the Crimea rebelled against the Ukrainians. The Crimea was since
the 1700 hundreds an area with a major Russian ethnic majority. By 1991
the population groups in Ukraine was 80% Russians, 15% Crimea Tatars and
5% Ukrainians.
That kind of situation was untenable and bound to lead to
major problems. I know the modern EU countries are not pro-ethnic states
and their sympathies were totally against the Russians who rebelled
against the new Ukrainian Government. Instead of accepting that
the situation should be dealt with objectively they turned their full
wrath against the Russians.
However, they were not consistent in what they did
historically. At the end of World War 1 they created a number of
countries to break up the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. The biggest
disasters were the combination of population groups in countries like -
* the inclusion of Transylvania with its Hungarian
population in Romania;
* the formation of Czechoslovakia;
* the bound to fail state of Yugoslavia
as a nation state.
We all know what the result was of that artificial situation.
The wars in Yugoslavia dragged on for years and more people were killed
in Yugoslavia than was killed in the Ukraine. Czechoslovakia broke up
into two separate states and the Romanian Transylvania is another powder keg
that could lead to serious problems in future.
So what is so unique about the Ukraine? Why could
the EU not accept that the Ukrainian problem should be dealt with the same way than what was done in for instance Yugoslavia? The situation was
relatively easy - negotiate to redraw the borders of the Ukraine to ensure that
the ethnic problems are sorted out, But the EU would not do that because
they are basically against nation states and for elimination of ethnicity.
I do not think Russia actually pose a threat to anyone and
to talk of Russian ambitions is in fact misleading. However,
if there ever was a war situation involving the EU and Russia, the Russians
will cut off the oil and gas supplies and Germany and the rest of Europe will be
out of commission within a week. In that Trump is right - you cannot be
dependent on a potential enemy for crucial elements of the defensive needs as
well as domestic and economic needs of
people.
It is fear-some that the EU in fact could effectively
develop into a new "empire" controlled through a mindboggling level
of propaganda and brainwashing, thus undermining the concept of democracy,