NATO summit in Madrid. Europeans on standby
I read how they comment material about NATO actions in relation to the Kaliningrad region and realized that the topic just needs to be continued. The confrontation with NATO is becoming more and more "hot", and the threat of a real military conflict is growing.
Why does Brussels need another conflict between Russia and one of its neighbors today? I am far from thinking that even if Moscow decides to solve the problem of supplying the Kaliningrad region by military means, the alliance will go into a full-scale clash.
Most likely, in this case, there will be something similar to helping Ukraine or the option of refusing to help Turkey after the incident with the Russian plane. Well, traditional concerns and calls for negotiations.
We perfectly see those marked cards that the western sharper keeps up his sleeve. One, namely the Ukrainian one, he has already forwarded. We see the result today. The destruction of the country and the collapse. Ukraine in its former form has already disappeared from the political map of the world.
This is a fact that, no matter how insulting the Ukrainians, has already happened. It remains to see new borders and new states on this territory. Now there is an attempt to play a new card - Lithuania. How is still unclear. Brussels gave the option to Moscow. And there is still Transnistria in the sleeve.
This is where a legitimate question comes in. Why does NATO need this? There are two reasons. First, the centuries-old strategy of warfare. An enemy fighting on several fronts is much weaker due to the fact that he is forced to divide his forces and does not have the opportunity to remove any formations from other regions.
Secondly, the contradictions in the alliance itself have become so aggravated that it is impossible to eliminate them without using the “appearance of a formidable external enemy” method. And the main boss of the alliance is increasingly showing a strange attitude towards the Europeans. The Americans are clearly pushing Russia against the EU.
That's what we're talking about today. About how even experienced politicians like NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg cannot get all members of the alliance to speak and act in unison.
The US is no longer a dictator in Europe
The paradox that I brought out in the subtitle is my personal opinion. It seems that American generals command NATO troops. American weapons are supplied to the armies of NATO countries. American divisions are located in several European countries. Moreover, it is the Americans, it is America, that is the main "scarecrow" for Russia. But...
Do you remember how in the recent past issues related to the life of the alliance were resolved? Decisions are made in the Pentagon, and at the next summit they are simply approved. None of the member states of the alliance dared to argue with the country that bears the main costs of "maintaining peace in Europe." This situation suited everyone.
The Europeans received "protection" from the "mighty" United States and did not suffer too much from rather small contributions to NATO. Those who invested more than others, I mean the FRG, were actually under the occupation of the American army. The Americans, on the other hand, provided work for their military-industrial complex, not only supplying, but also servicing US-made weapon and technique.
Approximately the same situation was observed in politics. Europe, not really thinking about the consequences, supported everything that the Americans were talking about. The fact that sometimes such a situation harmed their own interests did not really bother the Europeans. In general, the countries lived quite decently. Especially against the background of the events that took place in Eastern Europe and the countries of the former USSR.
Everything has changed in recent years. Not in 2014, as many people think, but a little later. When the confrontation between the United States and Russia began to acquire a threatening character. When it became clear that the sanctions policy, which was organized by the Americans and habitually supported by the Europeans, harms Europe to a greater extent, and for the USA and Russia this is just a way to restore a normally functioning economy.
Today, the US government is implementing, by the way, rather harshly, Trump's idea of returning industry to the territory of the United States. The consumer country really wants to become a producer country. The same situation is in Russia. We, again with a rather serious strain for the population, are restoring much that we successfully ruined in the 90s.
Europe, or rather the EU as a whole, quite comfortably used the old "work" on the division of labor and not only consumed, but also produced. Thus, both for the USA and for Russia, the Europeans are now competitors. Competitors to fight. Very revealing in this regard is a quote from President Biden's recent speech at the White House.
That's the essence of the whole "war" that the Americans unleashed against Russia. Well, nothing new. Again, exhaust the Russians and Europeans with mutual sanctions. Even somehow boring. The whole world must endure the deprivation and even death of its citizens, but except for the Americans. The United States is the same sacred cow that can do anything and will get nothing for it.
This fact is already understood in Europe. That is why discord began in the allied structures. That is why they are talking more actively about creating their own structures in various spheres of life. Starting with our own, European, army and ending with some kind of internal mini-unions in the economy.
How Finland and Sweden "wiped European points"
Let us return to the NATO bloc in the light of the above. With the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden suddenly decided to abandon their non-bloc status and applied to join the alliance. The application procedure itself was arranged quite solemnly. The leaders of the countries, the mainstream media, started talking about the rapid admission of these countries to the bloc.
And then the President of Turkey suddenly appears and declares that his country will not allow the admission of both countries to NATO. How much has been written about Erdogan's unexpected statement. No opinions were expressed on this matter. We were stubbornly told the idea that President Erdogan in NATO plays the role of a demon who serves evil. The politicians and leadership of the alliance made big eyes, allegedly not understanding what Turkey wants.
And what is incomprehensible in the actions of Turkey? The policy of the Turkish president can be described in one sentence. Whenever possible, row everything for yourself. Which, in principle, the president does. Finland and Sweden support the enemies of the Turks - the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the organization of the preacher Fethullah Gülen. Did anyone think that President Erdogan would miss such an opportunity to take revenge?
In fact, the situation with the admission of two northern European countries to NATO arose because of the US self-importance. Washington was sure that no one would dare to go against the will of the United States. Therefore, he did not pay due attention to working with problem countries.
Celeste Wallander, United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on June 22:
And Sweden will add to the alliance
You felt with what confidence and faith in your own rightness and in the future decision of the NATO summit this was said. And here is a quote from the speech of another assistant - Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried. The directness of this statement is quite American-style:
President Erdogan? But before the Turkish president, there were other doubters. Only they managed to shut their mouths. At least until the summit. But there is no Turk. I'm just sure that the politicians of the member countries of the alliance understand that the Americans have begun a slow transfer of Europe to Britain, in anticipation of a serious opposition from Russia to the events in Lithuania.
This idea is indirectly confirmed by the actions of one of Europe's leading officials, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. How masterfully Stoltenberg abdicated responsibility for refusing to accept Finland and Sweden into the alliance. He spoke for a long time about his own optimism in this matter, about the desire of the Finns and Swedes to join the ranks of the NATO army, and suddenly:
(From a speech at a forum in Brussels).
So, Stoltenberg is well aware that US self-confidence and President Erdogan's intransigence have practically deprived Finland and Sweden of the opportunity to join NATO as early as next week in Madrid. The situation in which Europe does not dare to utter a word without the consent of the United States is over. Although I would leave "one chance in a thousand" for implementation. Miracles happen.
So, without realizing it, the politicians of Sweden and Finland opened the eyes of Europeans to the fact that the time when one could live carefree, under the supervision of the "big nanny" in the person of the United States, is ending. Now the Europeans will have to answer for their actions and decisions themselves. But is Europe ready for this? Very doubtful, given the set of politicians that exists in the EU.
With the result that
The summit in Madrid, as conceived by the leaders of the NATO bloc, should become quite important. With the entry into the alliance of Finland and Sweden, NATO is completing the formation of a line of contact with Russia "from sea to sea." What the NATO members have been dreaming about for many decades must come true.
However, changes in the international situation and the actions of some leaders of the bloc's member countries have led to the fact that the desire of politicians, both the leaders of Finland and Sweden, and the leadership of the alliance, has been put into serious doubt.
The United States, despite its usual rhetoric, has also lost interest in European affairs and is gradually turning its attention to China and Asia in general. At the same time, the White House would not refuse a positive solution to the issue. Just because, once again, to annoy the Russians and make them spend a little on weapons.
So let's look at further developments. Europe today is in anticipation of change. In anticipation of how the confrontation between Washington and Ankara will end. There is very little time left before the opening of the NATO summit ...
Information