Europe: Paralysis in the face of Russian aggression
What exactly will it take for Europe to get tough with Russia? asked Norbert Hegedus in Uj Szo (Slovakia). European intelligence reports show some 100,000 Russian troops massing on Ukraine’s border and furious activity at Russian military bases in occupied Crimea—potential preparations for an invasion. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the most prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, is languishing in a prison hospital and is reportedly close to death. And now the Czech Republic has revealed that two mysterious explosions at arms depots in 2014 that killed two Czech civilians were the work of Russian operatives—the very same agents, in fact, who poisoned former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in England in 2018. Even though Putin has been “poisoning people and blowing things up” on Slovakia’s doorstep, our finance minister, Igor Matovic, met with Russian officials earlier this month to grovel for some doses of their Sputnik V Covid vaccine. Doesn’t he realize those shots are part of the “hybrid war” Russia is waging against the West? Remember, “whoever tries to make friends with the Russian bear can easily end up being eaten.”
We Czechs just got a rude awakening, said Lubos Palata in Denik (Czech Republic). Our leaders were happy to delude themselves that Russia, once our occupier, was now a partner. Sure, we knew that “Russia has for decades used the Czech Republic as a base for its intelligence operations” in Europe— why else would its Prague embassy be so big? But in return for turning a blind eye, the Czech government hoped the Russians would “leave us be and even be grateful.” Instead, we have discovered that soon after the Russians stole Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, they launched a terrorist campaign on Czech soil, blowing up weapons intended for Ukraine. Russia is now “our enemy.” The Czech government has expelled 18 Russian diplomats thought to be spies, but “lancing the festering sore that is the Russian embassy” is only the first necessary step.
The Czechs would be sensible to avoid an overly aggressive response, said Jedrzej Bielecki in Rzeczpospolita (Poland). Relations with Russia are always complicated. Look at Joe Biden. The U.S. president hit Russia with new sanctions last week over its hacking operations and election interference, but the punishment was limited, because he needs the Kremlin’s cooperation in Iran and Afghanistan. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, wrings her hands over Navalny but won’t cancel the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will funnel Russian natural gas to her country. For now, the European Union is prepared to offer only thoughts and prayers to the victims of Russian aggression, said David Herszenhorn and Jacopo Barigazzi in Politico.eu (Belgium). EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the rest of the bloc won’t follow the Czechs in expelling diplomats. His pronouncement on the Russian troop buildup next to Ukraine? “Let’s hope that this deployment will stop.” The Russians may be coming, “but the EU isn’t doing much about it—at least not at the moment.”