Monica Macovei: The EU has to be harsher in its sanctions against Russia

Member of the EU Parliament Monica Macovei called to enforce the sanctions of the European Union against Russia because of Moscow’s support of pro-Russian separatists in the east of Ukraine, and also called the EU to confidently get rid of fuel dependence on Moscow. Monica Macovei who held the post of Minister of Justice in the Romanian government before the country joined the EU in 2007, says that the period of meeting the demands to join the EU and the NATO is the best for eliminating corruption in post-communist states. 

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Ukraine has to count on its own Armed Forces and not membership in the NATO – experts

Kyiv – Ukraine, in the clash with Russia, should depend only on its own Armed Forces, by reforming them with the help of the West. And they must not count on joining the NATO in the next several days. This way the Ukrainian experts commented the statement of the head of the Polish MFA regarding the fact that Ukraine’s membership in the alliance is not on the daily agenda to Radio Svoboda. Meanwhile the experts do not exclude the accession to the NATO in the far future. 

Ukraine not ready for EU or NATO, French Foreign Minister says

Laurent Fabius

Laurent Fabius, the Foreign Minister of France:

• “EU is not ready to provide EU membership to Ukraine”.
• “Nobody wants Ukraine in NATO”
• “Should Vladimir Putin return to the G8?”

Source: itele.fr – i-Télé. – June 7, 2014

Laurent Fabius, the Foreign Minister of France, granted an exclusive interview to i-Télé on his way back from the inauguration of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday, June 7^th, 2014.

According to Fabius, there is no agreement in Europe with Poroshenko’s thesis that the signing of an association agreement should be the first step towards full membership of Ukraine in the EU.

The international reaction to Poroshenko’s inauguration

After Petro Poroshenko’s inauguration ceremony as President of Ukraine, a number of politicians expressed their opinions regarding Ukraine’s future.

The US and the NATO want to punish Russia – political expert

Kyiv – Taking the situation in Ukraine into account, the US and the NATO will enforce their military presence in Central and Eastern Europe, stated US President Barack Obama on Tuesday. The parliamentary majority sees this as a positive signal for Ukraine. Meanwhile political scientists say: this will not influence the situation in the East of Ukraine in any way; member countries of the NATO are only protecting themselves.

German ‘Putin’s Network’ against Ukraine (from European press)

Radiosvoboda, 06.05.2014

European newspapers inform about changes in forecasts of NATO leaders in respect of Russia’s next steps in Ukraine. As the Alliance’s Supreme Commander Philip Breedlove says, “currently Russia is unlikely to directly invade Ukraine” and predicts that Putin “heads for discrediting the Ukrainian government and organizing the riots and unrest in order to pave the way for a separatist movement”. The press also reports about U.S. financial and diplomatic ‘assault forces’ landing in Europe to coordinate new large-scale economic sanctions against Russia with the EU countries leaders. The observers also analyze Germany’s proposal to convene a new round of negotiations on Ukraine in Geneva and draw attention to the so-called ‘Putin’s network’ in Germany, which speaks out against the rights of Ukrainians to independence and justifies Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Russian Imperial Expansion or Economic Collapse?

OPED By Walter Derzko, Toronto

Putin is in a panic over NATO encroachment and encirclement of the Russian Federation. He also knows that the Russian Federation is quickly losing its geopolitical and energy influence. Putin admitted that Russia invaded /annexed Crimea out of shear necessity and outright survival. If it didn’t then NATO would eventually accept Ukraine, stationing troops in Sevastopil. In his annual TV phone in show last week, Putin conceded that Russia is no match for NATO.

What NATO must do

by Thomas C. Theiner – https://twitter.com/noclador

The Russian invasions of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk, along with the new Putin doctrine, whereas Russia reserves the right to invade any country on a Kremlin whim, must be countered militarily by NATO. Each European nation on its own is too weak to withstand a Russian attack; together the free nations of the West outnumber Russia’s military five times in men and twenty times in modern equipment. Therefore NATO members do not need to return to the mass armies of the Cold War, but all members must spend more on defense, invest in equipment and troops that are suitable for territorial defense and allow NATO to take command of Europe’s defense once more. Specifically NATO members must accept that:

Retreat is defeat

by Thomas C. Theiner – https://twitter.com/noclador

Time to get serious with Moscow

As the recent days have shown, Putin continues to his clandestine war against Ukraine to get what he wants: either to annex two thirds of this sovereign European nation or to beat the Ukrainian state into submission and capitulation. Allowing Putin to achieve either of his two goals or even allowing him to continue on his destructive spree will plunge Europe into a decade of political uncertainty at best—or a major pan-European war at worst.

Only a united, pro-active and decisive front by the European Union, the United States of America, NATO and Ukraine, along with all our allies, can defeat Putin’s ambition to re-conquer former Russian colonies. The EU, the US, NATO and Ukraine have to closely coordinate their efforts, with each one taking the lead in the area they are best suited to deal with: NATO in defense, the EU in economics, the US in leadership, and Ukraine in fighting Russian forces on the ground.

Peter Koller: Der Westen sollte aufhören, sich der Illusion hinzugeben, dass es sich bei der derzeitigen russischen Führungsspitze um zivilisierte Menschen handelt, mit denen man reden und Kompromisse schließen kann

Peter Koller: Der Westen sollte aufhören, sich der Illusion hinzugeben, dass es sich bei der derzeitigen russischen Führungsspitze um zivilisierte Menschen handelt, mit denen man reden und Kompromisse schließen kann.

viaPeter Koller: Der Westen sollte aufhören, sich der Illusion hinzugeben, dass es sich bei der derzeitigen russischen Führungsspitze um zivilisierte Menschen handelt, mit denen man reden und Kompromisse schließen kann.