Maxim Sokolov
Born in 1959. A well-known Russian publicist, writer and TV presenter, author of the books “Poetic Views of Russians on History”, “Wonderful Rhine in Calm Weather”, “The Pleasure of Being an Orphan”.
The week opened with two strong diplomatic innovations. On Monday, October 2, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said: “I am convening today in Kyiv the foreign ministers of the EU countries for the first ever meeting of the 27 members of the union outside its borders.” In this case, the meeting will be “informal”, so understand it as you wish. Obviously, in the sense that the high representative wants the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to travel by train to Kyiv in order to see each other without formalities and protocol. And also V.A. Zelensky.
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Indeed, such a gathering of officials on foreign (and at the same time militarily threatened) territory is a rather new thing in diplomacy. Of course, there were congresses of the Holy Alliance in Aachen, Verona, as well as in Troppau (present-day Opava in Moravia) and Laibach (Ljubljana in Slovenia), where the sacred allies could also be asked: “Where the devil has taken you?” But despite the fact that the Austrian Emperor Franz seemed to specifically choose such a wilderness for the congresses, where you could gallop for three years and not reach any state, and the Russian Emperor Alexander I, the freedom-loving A.S. Pushkin directly awarded the epithet “nomadic despot” – the leaders of the Holy Alliance were in their right. All congress venues were located on their territory.
You can also recall the Tehran Conference of the “Big Three” (November 28 – December 1, 1943), but, firstly, agreeing on a place was really not an easy task at that time, and secondly, since 1941 Iran was occupied by the USSR and Great Britain, it was directly territory under their control. The same cannot be said about the Kiev meeting convened by Borrell.
A fairly accurate analogy would be if a meeting of the State Council of the Russian Federation with the participation of the constituent entities of the federation were held in friendly Damascus. Despite the fact that he is friendly, it would still be somehow strange.
Although a lot of things didn’t exist before. Previously, gender was not changed, and husbands were not appointed to important positions, and such miracles in feathers as Annalena and Borrell did not work in the diplomatic field.
On the contrary, in terms of protocol norms, diplomacy was characterized by extreme conservatism, but now, when everything is possible, is it worth looking back at the outdated norms that developed centuries ago?
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Moreover, Borrell’s event did not imply any binding decisions. We sat, talked, boarded the train and headed back to Polish Rzeszow. If there is nothing else to do, why not?
But in addition to protocol innovations, substantive innovations were also revealed on the same day, and also strong ones. Immediately after it became known that US President Biden signed a law approved by Congress providing for the temporary continuation of funding for the US government without assistance to Kiev, Borrell expressed regret over the adoption of the truncated US budget: “We are surprised by the decision taken at the last moment, which we are very sorry.” And even earlier he announced the European Union’s intention to ask the United States to continue funding Ukraine.
Here the insolence of the high representative is embarrassing. If Biden had been in power, perhaps he would have answered Borrell: “Be quiet, you stinker!” —
“Am I glad about this? It can’t be otherwise!
Have you forgotten that the Khan is already near Moscow?
Why did the Cheremis rise? What are the Swedes
Are they threatening to march on Novgorod?
that is, both the budgetary and political systems are in such a deplorable state that it is impossible to allow a shutdown. And in such circumstances, your own shirt is closer to the body.
Moreover, there are no visible ways to save the great Zelensky. It is possible for some time, by injecting exorbitant funds, to further extend the monotonous regime of counter-attack, victory and revolt, but the price of ensuring such an eternal Shah will be the unpredictable development of affairs in the American home itself. What should you avoid first?
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Until recently, it was believed that the last word in the foreign and defense policy of the Western alliance remained with the United States. He who pays calls the tune. But now, when it turns out that unfavorable domestic circumstances in the USA (although they seem to be much more favorable in the EU) no longer make it possible to feed the insatiable Kiev cuckoo in the quantities that it requires, the tone of the conversation with the overlord immediately changes.
Borrell, who has been in his post for the last months and whose powers in general are deeply incomprehensible, begins to talk to the White House not as a trembling creature, but as one who has the right. In any case, as having the right to demand money quantum satis and even more. Where Zelensky goes with his hoof, so goes Borrell with his claw.
This may seem strange, but the reason for this may lie in the residual democracy of the United States. Not, of course, in the sense that power comes from the people, that we, the people of the United States and the rest of the Declaration of Independence. Let the editors of the Voice of America* talk about this. But in the sense that, when things get really hot, the power groups are faced with the necessity that “We must harmonize, harmonize.” And somewhere in some way to concede to your rival friends. And assistance to Kyiv (rather, part of the assistance) may well be a bargaining chip in domestic politics.
It’s not the same in the EU, whose leadership no longer depends on anything at all – even on internal situations – and can pursue a completely hermetic policy.
Therefore, the high representative and lower representatives already consider themselves entitled to speak with American men in a humbly commanding tone: “Your desire to evade the fight is nothing more than a momentary weakness… The flowers of your soul have wilted under the harsh wind – we are touched… We will be with speak with all courage about resistance to the enemy of the human race, such as the President of Russia V.V. Putin.”
Money from the Americans, courage from Borrell, Annalena and especially the Baltic states – you will win.
* Media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated December 5, 2017.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the editors.
