The West`s Monopoly on Injustice: the Conclusions of the EU Snap SummitНазад
The West`s Monopoly on Injustice: the Conclusions of the EU Snap Summit
The date of the snap EU Summit which focused no so much on the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia as on condemning Russia`s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia - September 1 - was truly symbolic. World War II began in 1939 also on September 1.
Despite nice diplomatic gestures towards Russia, most of the criticisms at the Summit were leveled at it, not at Georgia which had been responsible for the aggression against South Ossetia. Various EU countries attacked Russia in different ways, depending on their own skills and experience. Poland and the Baltic countries, infested with Russophobia more than others, played the role of provocateurs. It must be admitted that their loud initiatives, like the attempts to invite Georgian President Saakashvili to take part in the debates and the calls for sanctions, were not entirely without effect. The anti-Russian hysteria based on gross distortions of facts did have an impact on the Russian society as the Russian expert community clearly started to worry about the sanctions Europe might choose to impose.
In contrast, the European heavyweights played gently. Saakashvili never got the invitation to Brussels and the idea of sanctions against Russia received no support. Yet, there is no doubt about the bottom line: French President N. Sarkozy reiterated at the Summit`s closing media conference that the EU had condemned and continued to condemn what it regarded as Russia`s disproportionate response. To sweeten the pill for Russia, statements were added that the EU was aware of the need to continue the dialog with Russia and had no plans to demonstrate muscle (this must have been a reference to NATO`s muscle since the EU simply does not have any). In the process, Sarkozy made a Freudian slip when he said that in his view the solution was not in the hands of NATO.
It is true that NATO has no potential to handle the situation. The inability is not explained in terms of the numbers of warships sent to the Black Sea, etc. Putin expressed the actual reason in his usual laconic manner: "Whatever happens, and whatever is being said, the truth is on our side".
Whereas NATO`s style is intimidation, the EU specializes in freezing conflicts (that is, in delaying the restoration of normal conditions). The strategy encompasses several phases and "the model of freezing" has already been tested and put into practice during the crisis in Yugoslavia.
At the first phase, the situation is to revert to the pre-war condition. At this point, the main demand is to pull Russian forces back to the positions they held before August 7. The EU threatens to postpone the negotiations on the partnership pact with Moscow unless it complies. In the 1990ies, Serbs in Bosnia and Krajina faced similar demands. When the requirements were met, the former were expelled by Croats who made Croatia mono-ethnic, and the latter were forced to agree to the Dayton deal which introduced a de facto protectorate run by NATO and the EU.
The second phase is that of international consultations and discussions. President of the EU Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, French President N. Sarkozy, and EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana plan to visit Moscow on September 8. When the Balkan crisis was unraveling, an international conference on Yugoslavia was instituted and endless European commissions used to visit Yugoslavian President S. Milosevic, but where are Yugoslavia and Milosevic now?
The Atlantists neither can nor wish to disguise their objectives. Sarkozy (and others) keep telling that the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia must be discussed only under the assumption that they are integral parts of Georgia. The scheme leaves Russia with nothing but the right to express itself. The people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have expressed their will concerning the possibility of their being with Georgia in referendums, but it is totally ignored by European politicians. The EU Summit`s declaration reads: "...a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict in Georgia must be based on full respect for the principles of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity recognized by international law, the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and United Nations Security Council resolutions". Apart from the above, Moscow can talk as much as it wishes.
The third phase includes the deployment of the OCSE, UN, and NATO observers and peacekeepers in the region. It will be their mission to ensure Georgia`s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. By this, NATO will irreversibly assert itself as the main force in the Caucasus.
The fact that Javier Solana de Madariaga, the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, is among the key players in the negotiations concerning Georgia shows that the technologies tested on Serbs are going to be applied in the Caucasus. The individual deserves particular attention. Being the number one EU negotiator, Solana has the reputation as a clever and cunning diplomat, but this is not the most important circumstance in the context. He was the Secretary General of NATO at the bloodiest and dirtiest times of the Balkan crisis such as the war in Bosnia and the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia. It was during the Yugoslavian campaign that, for the first time in the NATO history, its Secretary General was given the right to individually make the decision to start military action. On several occasions US President B. Clinton responded to NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia by saying he agreed with Solana`s decision to launch them.
It is not by chance that Solana became the top EU negotiator and headed the EU foreign ministry with the budget totaling Euro 26 bn. He is one of the not so many European politicians who suit Washington and he really knows how to extract maximal benefits from any situation.
In May, 2000 the US described Solana as the realization of H. Kissinger`s dream of being able to solve all problems with Europe by calling just one phone number. Solana describes himself as a European and an Atlantist and preaches that the interests of "a strong Europe" and the US are largely identical.
It is well-known that, asked by US Gen. W. Clark about the secret of his diplomatic success, Solana answered: "Make no enemies, and never ask a question to which you do not know or like the answer". Visiting Moscow this September, Solana clearly is not going to ask why Russia has recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia - there is no chance he will like the answer. Instead, he will do everything possible for NATO to irreversibly gain positions in the Caucasus. Consequently, the conflict between Georgia and the two breakaways - South Ossetia and Abkhazia - is far from being over.
Now, the last thing. As the West is making inroads into the Caucasus region strategically important to transnational corporations, financial centers, and supra-national organizations, at every phase of the process financial and political support is provided to the corrupt elite of the protectorate, in this particular case, to that of Georgia. The EU snap Summit declared that Europe would extend humanitarian and economic assistance to Georgia including the establishment of a free-trade zone and the simplification of the visa regime. The decision shows the West`s monopoly on injustice (Dominique Colas). If it takes killing hundreds or thousands of people and leveling their homes to earn the right to preferential economic treatment - just do it! Money has no smell.
