Translated material
"EU has lost the monopoly on strength"
George Soros about what danger modern Russia is for Europe
During the conflict in Ukraine, Russia has turned into force that threatens the existence of the European Union and preaches the values alternative to Western. The financier and philanthropist George Soros writes in his article for The New York Review of Books: Vladimir Putin clearly demonstrates that the Russian approach is fruit and is more successful than the EU policy.
If Europe adheres to the dictatorships of the law, then Russia comes from the standpoint of power, arranges repressions within the country and aggressively behaves in foreign policy. The success of Russia in eastern Ukraine demonstrates that this approach may be effective, Soros notes.
The frozen conflict in Ukraine gives Russia a trump card in negotiations with Kiev on gas, which will probably continue after the election to the Verkhovna Rada on October 26. According to Soros, Putin can offer Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko a discount on gas in exchange for the appointment of a “convenient” prime minister for Russia, that is, a person who has nothing to do with Euromaidan. It is unlikely that Poroshenko will agree, and then Putin will be able to either observe the financial and economic collapse of Ukraine, or try to win the ground passage to the Crimea, “defrosting” the separatists.
Another option for the development of events in the world, which considers Soros, concerns the agreement between Russia and the United States on the fight against the “Islamic state” in Syria and Iraq. As the financier suggests, Moscow may agree on a particular cooperation with the United States-for example, to refuse to supply S-300 complexes to Syria and thereby help the American troops control airspace in the region. In exchange, Putin will require the West to be silent about Russia's claims to border territories, including Ukrainian ones. Soros believes that Barack Obama may well agree to this.
The collapse of Ukraine will turn out for NATO, the EU and the United States with colossal consequences, argues Soros, since the winning Russia will gain influence in the European Union and will become a threat to the Baltic countries in NATO, where a large number of Russians still live.
Soros believes in the reality of these forecasts, since in Europe and the USA they believe: “Putin is not Hitler”, if you make concessions, it will not use force. In the West, they hope that in the long run, sanctions will have a negative effect on the Russian economy and force Moscow to retreat. According to Soros, these hopes are unjustified, since Putin repeatedly resorted to power and is ready to use it again, regardless of whether Russia is threatened with new sanctions.
Thus, in order to protect yourself, the West needs to protect Ukraine, the financier claims and calls for assistance to the Ukrainian economy and save it on dependence on Moscow.
Now is the time for the European Union to look at itself from the side. It must be something wrong with the EU if Putin Russia is so successful at least a short term. European bureaucracy no longer has a monopoly on strength, and it is not worth proud of it. (English.