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The More NATO in Our Neck of the Woods - the Better (Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland)

 

"Putin's imperialism clearly shows that Poland and other countries of the former Soviet bloc were fully justified in their rush to join not only NATO, but also the E.U. ... . If Putin is calculating the gains and losses of an intervention in eastern Ukraine, let him count on prolonged resistance by a Ukrainian army strengthened by the West."

 

By Tomasz Bielecki

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Translated By Halszka Czarnocka

 

April 9, 2014

 

Poland - Gazeta Wyborcza - Original Article (Polish)

Pro-Russian protesters rally in downtown Donetsk, Ukraine, calling on ousted President Yanukovych to return and hold a referendum on the status of the Donetsk region like the one held in Crimea, Mar. 29.

 

RUSSIA TODAY NEWS VIDEO: Pro-Russia activists seize local govt building, declare independent Donetsk republic, Apr. 7, 00:03:43RealVideo

Putin's imperialism clearly shows that Poland and other countries of the former Soviet bloc were fully justified in their rush to join not only NATO, but also the E.U.

 

The Kremlin has forever protested NATO enlargement, and a few years ago, it also began to recognize the European Union as a geopolitical rival. Brussels is now convinced that if it had failed to admit Bulgaria and Romania into the Union in 2007, Russia, through economic means and energy, would soon have tried to sabotage any such attempt.

 

The Union is dutifully helping its newest members, spending big money on, among other things, policies to boost internal cohesion, increase general prosperity, and promote the rule of law. In contrast, opinion on the part of the public and even a segment of the ruling elite in our region of Europe have long had doubts about whether the NATO allies were fully aware of Putin’s aggressive aspirations to reconstruct the Russian sphere of influence. Now, mainly the Baltic countries, are loudly pondering whether, even after the Crimea Anschluss, the Western allies are prepared to abandon their fantasies of constructing “a common security area reaching from San Francisco to Vladivostok.”

 

It was only 2010 that NATO countries ratified plans for Poland and the Baltic states, since before that, the West considered a hypothetical attack by post-Soviet Russia nothing more than a symptom of Polish or Lithuanian hysteria. In 2013, NATO conducted military exercises called Steadfast Jazz during which, among other things, it practiced repulsing an attack against Estonia by a non-fictional country that, for the purpose of the exercises, bore the name of Bothnia. Yet even then, the decision to carry out the training was only taken as a political reaction to Russian military exercises conducted since 2009, the script of which contained a simulated nuclear attack on Warsaw.

 

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And after the annexation of Crimea? Military planners are obliged to exercise an abundance of caution, or, in other words, to prepare a response to even minimally probable future threats. For now, the United States has sent a number of its fighter aircraft to patrol the airspace over Poland and other countries in the area, which is a great way to show solidarity with NATO’s eastern flank, but only in the short term. The task for the Alliance in the coming weeks and months will be to formulate a longer-term response.

 

NATO planners have already been tasked with estimating the needs arising from the potential threat from Russia, but the key decisions will perhaps only be taken at the NATO summit in Wales in September. The likelihood is that this will involve a recalibration of defense plans and an intensification of military exercises in our part of Europe. However, the decision to permanently stationing additional NATO forces in Poland remains an open question. Two brigades in Poland [6,000-10,000 troops] - which is what Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski recently spoke of, doesn't now seem likely, but perhaps there is a chance for a smaller increase. We should also expect President Obama to demand more European defense expenditures at this fall’s NATO summit.

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And what about Ukraine? NATO has never been prepared to accept it as a member (which would require all members to unanimously agree). The main obstacle has been the reluctance of a number of key members to escalate the confrontation with Russia. At the same time, Ukrainians themselves are divided on the issue. The Maidan protesters were fighting for closer ties to the E.U. rather than NATO. That, of course, doesn't mean that NATO cannot help them.

 

No one, neither in the United States or Europe, has an appetite for a war with Russia, but as Zbigniew Brzeziński recently wrote, the West should signal to Russia that in the event of invasion, the Ukrainian army can count on immediate and direct Western aid so as to enhance its defensive capabilities. If Putin is calculating the gains and losses of an intervention in eastern Ukraine, let him count on prolonged resistance by a Ukrainian army strengthened by the West.

 

The North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4, 1949, but the U.S. only ratified it in August. Then, having been ratified by most of its 12 founding members, NATO began functioning formally.

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

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La Jornada, Mexico: Mexico: The Birthplace of U.S. Interventionism

La Jornada, Mexico: 'Manifest Destiny': Prepare for U.S. Preventive War on Mexico

Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia: Ukraine and Syria: May Allah Make Russia's Pain Severe!

Trouw, Netherlands: Clinton's Hitler-Putin Comment Highlights Weakness of E.U.

Vedomosti, Russia: From Hitler to Putin: Crimea is 'Not the First Time'

Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland: 'Annexing' Crimea and 'Uniting' Jerusalem

Gazeta, Russia: Russians Bid Farewell to the West

Gazeta, Russia: Annexing Crimea 'Too Costly for Russia to Bear'

Vedomosti, Russia: From Hitler to Putin: Crimea is 'Not the First Time'

Izvestia, Russia: Global Call to Arms Against 'American Exceptionalism'

Moskovskij Komsomolets, Russia: A Grateful Nation Cheers President Putin's Triumph

Izvestia, Russia: Crimea: 'We Will Never Give Up What We've Won'

Handelsblad, Germany: 'Fissures' in Europe: Putin, Propaganda, and Patriotism

Der Spiegel, Germany: Finance Minister Schauble Says Putin Plan Reminiscent of Hitler

Der Spiegel, Germany: The Sympathy Problem - Is Germany a Country of Russia Apologists?

Der Spiegel, Germany: NATO's Putin Conundrum: Berlin Considers Its NATO Options

La Stampa, Italy: Ukraine: Putin Capitalizes on Western Identity Crisis

La Stampa, Italy: Ukraine: Putin Capitalizes on Western Identity Crisis

de Volkskrant, Netherlands: Putin's Letter to Americans a Guilty Pleasure for the World

Huanqiu, China: Letter By Vladimir Putin Exposes 'Exceptional' American Inequality

Rzeczpospolita, Poland: A 'Puppet in Putin's Hands,' Snowden Paved Way to Ukraine Crisis

Diario De Noticias, Portugal: Russia and America: United in Flouting International Law

Carta Maior, Brazil: Venezuela and Ukraine: Upending Washington's Best Laid Plans

Le Quotidien d'Oran, Algeria: Crimea: The Latest Front for French Rambos

Reforma, Mexico: Crimea and Texas: Russia's Version of Manifest Destiny

Al Wehda, Syria: America's 'Destiny' of Invasion and Expansionism

FAZ, Germany: America and Germany: The 'Axis of Pragmatism'

BelTA, Belarus: Lukashenko Warns: Crimea Sets 'Dangerous Precedent'

Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia: Ukraine and Syria: May Allah Make Russia's Pain Severe!

tp24 Rubriche, Italy: America 'Too Young to Understand' Crisis in Crimea

Die Zeit, Germany: The Paler the West, the More Luminous Vladimir Putin

Rzeczpospolita, Poland: Between Russia and the West: Ukraine's Insurmountable Task

Huanqiu, China: Crisis Over Ukraine Could Spell 'Disaster' for China

Asia Times, Hong Kong: Beijing to Kiev to Taipei: Why China Worries About Ukraine

Neatkariga Rita Avize, Latvia: Putin Clears Western Minds of Intelligence, Media 'Delusions'

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany: Germans Must Now Back Sanctions - Even if they Hurt Us

Diena, Latvia: President Tells Lithuanians: Show Russia No Fear and be 'Ready to Shoot'

de Volkskrant, The Netherlands: Recognize Russia's Legitimate Interests or Ukraine is Doomed

de Volkskrant, The Netherlands: Most Crimeans Don't want Ukraine Split

Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany: Finding the Win-Win Scenario With Vladimir Putin

Sol, Portugal: Ukraine May Awaken 'Ghosts of the Great War'

de Morgan, Belgium: Putin Knows: No One in West is Willing to Die for Sebastopol

Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russia: Crimea: the Next Puerto Rico?

Russia Today, Russia: VIDEOS: Roundup of Russian Reaction from Russia Today

European Press Agencies: European Reaction to Developments in Ukraine

Moskovskii Komsomolets, Russia: Report: U.S. to Help 'Oust' Black Sea Fleet from Crimea

Novosti, Russia: Looking Toward the West, Ukraine 'Lies' to the East

Yezhednevniy Zhurnal, Russia: Ossified Kremlin Misreads Biden Visit to Georgia, Ukraine

Rceczpospolita, Poland: Banish All 'Magical Thinking' Regarding the Russian Bear

Kommersant, Russia: The Kremlin Offers 'an Ultimatum' to America

Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland: 'Enormous Error' of Bush's 'Georgian Protege'
Cotidianul, Romania:
Georgia Can 'Kiss NATO Goodbye'
Financial Times Deutschland, Germany: Before Georgia - It is Europe that Needs Mediation
Rue 89, France: East Europe Best Not Depend on 'Obsolete' NATO
Liberation, France: Russian President 'Dictates His Peace' to Hapless Europe
Le Figaro, France: Between America and Russia, the E.U. is On the Front Line
Le Figaro, France: War in the Caucasus: Georgia 'Doesn’t Stand a Chance'
Le Figaro, France: A Way Out of the Georgia Crisis for Russia and the West
Le Figaro, France: A Way Out of the Georgia Crisis for Russia and the West
Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany: Did Russia 'Win' the Georgia Crisis? Not By a Long Shot

 

 

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Posted By Worldmeets.US Apr. 8, 2014, 3:49pm