Vladimir Putin is already at war with Europe

Le HuffingtonPost, February 23, 2015, Strade, February 24, 2015, InformNapalm (en), February 27, 2015, InformNapalm (fr), February 27, 2015, EuropeanSotnia, March 10, 2015, InformNapalm (de), March 26, 2015

At the Munich Security Conference at the beginning of February, Sergey Lavrov caused general amusement among the ministers and diplomats present when he declared that the reunification of Germany had happened without a referendum. Unquestionably, the cream of European diplomacy was laughing as much at itself – and could just as easily have cried. A year after Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, more than fifteen months since the beginning of the Euromaidan in Kyiv, and more than fifteen years since Vladimir Putin’s accession to power in Russia, these politicians and diplomats are at a loss to describe what is shaking up the European continent. Lire la suite →

Vladimir Poutine est déjà en guerre contre l’Europe

Le HuffingtonPost, 23 février 2015, Strade, 24 février 2015, InformNapalm (en), 27 février 2015, InformNapalm (fr), 27 février 2015, EuropeanSotnia, 11 mars 2015, InformNapalm (de), 26 mars 2015

Début février 2015, à Munich, lors de la Conférence sur la Sécurité, Sergueï Lavrov a provoqué un éclat de rire généralisé parmi les ministres et diplomates présents lorsqu’il a affirmé que la réunification allemande avait eu lieu sans référendum. A n’en pas douter, le gratin de la diplomatie européenne riait sans doute aussi sur lui-même. Il aurait d’ailleurs pu, tout aussi bien, pleurer. Près d’un an après l’invasion et l’annexion de la Crimée par la Russie, à plus de quinze mois du début de la révolution Euromaidan à Kyiv et plus de quinze ans après l’avénement de Vladimir Poutine au pouvoir en Russie, ces politiques et ces diplomates peinent toujours à mettre des mots sur ce qui ébranle le continent européen. Lire la suite →

An open letter to Captain Nadiya Savchenko, on day fifty-seven of her hunger strike

Le HuffingtonPost, February 9, 2015, Strade, February 10, 2015, kontury.info, February 11, 2015

Dear Captain, dear Nadiya,

Though I was not optimistic, I did hope a little, a very little bit, that Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Hollande would bring you back with them from Moscow in their « luggage ». After all of the violations of Russia’s recent, and not so recent, commitments, such a concrete gesture would have given an ounce of credibility to Mr. Putin’s declarations that he truly wanted to negotiate. Alas, this was not the case. The Chancellor and the President returned empty handed. Lire la suite →

Lettre ouverte au capitaine Nadiya Savchenko en grève de la faim (57ième jour)

Le HuffingtonPost, 9 février 2015, Strade, 10 février 2015, kontury.info, February 11, 2015

Chère Capitaine, chère Nadiya,

Sans être optimiste, j’espérais un peu, un tout petit peu, que Mme Merkel et M. Hollande vous ramènent de Moscou dans leurs « bagages ». Après toutes les violations des engagements récents et moins récents de la Russie, ce geste concret aurait pu donner une once de crédibilité aux affirmations de M. Poutine selon lesquelles il voudrait réellement négocier. Las, il n’en a rien été. La chancelière et le président sont revenus les mains vides. Lire la suite →

The war between Russia and Ukraine: a threat to European unity

Le HuffingtonPost, 5 février 2015, Strade, 6 février 2015

Against the backdrop of renewed fighting in Ukraine, we are seeing more and more signs of division at the heart of the European Union. In the last few weeks alone, the Hungarian Prime Minister has announced his support for the new gas pipeline project that will link Russia and Turkey, and that Europeans will be expected to join, effectively giving up connections via Ukraine. Moreover, Viktor Orban is apparently preparing to host a visit by the Russian President in Budapest. Miloš Zeman, the Czech President, has also continued to be at odds with the rest of Europe by steadfastly maintaining that the Kremlin does not have a hand in the war in Donbass. At the same time too, France has been conducting bilateral negotiations with Russia aimed at restarting the exportation of pork products that was suspended after the Russian boycott of agricultural and food products of EU provenance. The Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, will not stray from a certain generosity towards Moscow, while Bulgaria is under enormous pressure given substantial Russian investment in the country. But there are even greater concerns on the horizon: with Syriza and the Independent Greeks (ANEL) now in power in Greece, we see more clearly how intimately connected some of their high-level members are to Russian figures who are known for their important roles in fostering Vladimir Putin’s imperial designs. Lire la suite →

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