EU’s Crisis and the Need for a New Direction
In recent weeks, the EU’s leaders have been proud of their global influence and their own importance. However, they are now facing the consequences of their own actions. Despite this, they still believe that continuing down the same path is the solution.
The simplest way to get out of the current impasse is to stop and reverse course. However, this is not an option for the political leaders, as it would mean admitting their failure and facing the consequences at home and in the public eye.
The current elites in EU-Europe, particularly in Germany, are dominated by careerists. There is no sign of integrated personalities who are willing to take responsibility for their mistakes and step aside to make way for new, forward-thinking forces and to save their people from the abyss.
Instead, they seem determined to continue the war in Ukraine and torpedo the promising peace initiative of the US President with President Putin. However, continuing the war without the Americans is not a strategy, as it is impossible in a material sense. And it would also be impossible to continue the war as a challenge to the Europeans, as the US President wants to create a common basis for future cooperation with Russia.
The talks in Riyadh on Tuesday were not “negotiations” but a significant step forward. The US and Russian foreign ministers had a good meeting, as reported by both sides. As a first step, the embassies and consulates of both sides, which were closed during the Obama and Biden administrations for absurd reasons, will be reopened with full staff. Normal diplomatic relations will be restored. This is a significant step forward.
Six joint sub-commissions will be established to search for a common basis. Group one will focus on strategic security and arms control and will specifically consider the New START agreement on strategic nuclear arms control. Group two will review the global security architecture, as it makes sense to have a UN Security Council with, for example, India and Brazil not represented and no solid African representation. Group three will deal with bilateral diplomatic relations to restore normal diplomacy. Group four will focus on energy and sanctions and will concentrate on profitable projects for both sides. Some have already been discussed in Riyadh. Group five will deal with Ukraine; what needs to be done to clarify the situation in Ukraine, with some of the core demands of the Kremlin already fulfilled by the US without a Russian counteroffer. This was a kind of compensation for the war in Ukraine triggered by the Biden administration and the NATO/EU governments since 2014.
Group six will deal with international issues, such as the Middle East, relations with Iran and the joint use of the Arctic.
EU-Europe, fixated on Ukraine and Russia, must understand that what Trump is initiating and planning with Russia goes far beyond the end of the war in Ukraine.
As mentioned earlier, the war in Ukraine is a nuisance for Trump and his peace plan is being thwarted by a corrupt and arrogant actor who has been without democratic legitimacy since May last year, constantly demanding new billions of dollars for the “democracy” and in reality being a brutal dictator (Trump’s own words).
Since Selensky’s recent open media attack on Trump, in which he accused the US President of living in a “Putin-made disinformation bubble” the tone of Trump’s top team has turned harsher towards Selensky and his “violent regime.”
The truth about Ukraine is no longer taboo, e.g., that under Selensky, the opposition in the country was banned and political opponents were imprisoned or worse, while Selensky himself pursued his private billion-dollar interests without regard for his battered people, sacrificing hundreds of thousands of people in the process. With descriptions of this kind, the Trump team has not spared in the last days. This has publicly declared Selensky as an enemy of the US and taken away the protection of Washington, thus opening the hunt on Selensky for his internal political opponents.
EU-Europe, which has disengaged itself from the new developments of a fruitful Russian-American cooperation, is stamping its foot like a child in a tantrum, seeking desperately for ways to continue the war in Ukraine with its own, non-existent financial, economic and military means. In other words, the ruling elites in EU-Europe are continuing their bellicose daydreams, but have neither the means nor the possibilities to achieve them and even less a strategy to get out of the impasse, in which they are sinking deeper.
It is high time for a realpolitik reassessment and the “Undenkbare” but only right thing to do: leaving NATO, joining Trump’s America in a peace agreement with Russia and seeking a strategic agreement with China and its New Silk Road to integrate into the rising growth region of the globe.
Unfortunately, such a drastic but necessary change in direction will require a new generation of European (particularly German) leaders, which is not in sight. The only two political forces in Germany that think and act in this direction, namely the second-strongest party, the national-conservative AfD and the less strong BSW, will be diffamied and as unworthy of election by a gigantic propaganda apparatus.
However, surveys show that the majority of Germans want peace with Russia; not just for the “lovely peace” but because peace with Russia is vital for our country, our economy and industry and thus for the existence of our children and grandchildren. Peace with Russia also guarantees the security of Europe. Peace with Russia saves us hundreds of billions of euros in military expenditure, which could be invested in the development of a peaceful, social and just society.
And finally, a note about myself:
“Frieden mit Russland” as the most important task of our time is also the title of a conference of the East German Kuratorium of Associations e.V. on March 24 in Berlin-Neuenhagen, at the preparation of which I am personally involved. Two years ago, on March 27, 2023, the first conference of this kind took place in Berlin, under the title “Dialogue instead of Arms – Bipartisan against War.” At that time, the German “quality media” deliberately ignored this conference with known representatives from East and West, from the military, science, culture and society, from the political spectrum from left to national-conservative. Instead, the meeting received much attention in the European press, especially in China and Russia, as evidenced by articles and many video interviews with the attending personalities.
Details about the “Frieden mit Russland” conference and registrations can be found at the link. This time, we have also invited two outstanding speakers from the US, which, given the recent transatlantic developments, makes the conference even more interesting, but also more costly (flight, interpreter). Therefore, we ask all who are interested in the inter-party movement for “Frieden mit Russland” to make a donation to the account of the “German Peace Council” as a co-organizer:
German Peace Council e.V., Weydingerstr. 14-16, 10178 Berlin
Account and donation: Deutsche Bank; DE75 1007 0848 0629 0779 00; Purpose of use: “Conference