May 21, 2014
From the left to the
right, Kiev's putative friends found reasons to think that Putin isn't such a
bad fellow.
There are flickers of
hope that calm can descend again on Eastern Europe. We are told that those
threatening Russian military forces on the Ukraine border will be pulled back,
amid hints that Moscow might be able to do business with the oligarch seemingly
set to become Ukraine's next president. We must hope that this is the case,
that the conflict and violence has ended. It is not too early to reflect on the
performance of Kiev's putative European allies in this disturbing episode, or
to reach the conclusion that their response has been shameful.
Consider the facts. A
large, fledgling democracy in the Continent's biggest country struggled to take
flight after years of stagnation under an obscene kleptocracy, only to be
ruthlessly dismembered by its belligerent and even bigger neighbor. First came
the invasion of Crimea, taken with scarcely a whimper from the West despite
being the first such annexation in postwar European history, then the cruel
carving up of the country's wealthy industrial heartlands.
Clearly these events
were choreographed by Moscow, driven by an authoritarian regime fearful of an
upsurge of freedom and consequent loss of influence over the lands ringing
Russia. For those of us reporting on the brutal slaughter of protesters in Kiev
in February, then the brazen theft of Crimea weeks later, and finally similar
stunts in a "spontaneous" uprising in the Donbas region, the evidence
points in one direction. Only the most myopic could fail to see
this.
But it is depressing
how many people in Europe fell for the parodic propaganda pumped out by Russian
President Vladimir Putin, thereby weakening attempts to marshal a unified
response. Disunity ensured that even the wan sanctions imposed by Washington
seem strong by comparison, while highlighting divisions that undermine any
dreams of European unity. The clash over Ukraine is often viewed as an
old-fashion struggle between global powers, yet at its core lies the
determination of most Ukrainians to share in their Continent's noblest ideals.
Unfortunately Mr. Putin
has plenty of useful idiots on both left and right who view the tragic events
in Ukraine through the prism of their own prejudices. On the right, these
include ascendant populist politicians whose dislike of the European Union is
so intense that they endorse an imperial aggressor rather than individuals
seeking liberty and modernity. On the left are those whose visceral contempt
for the United States is so hard-wired that they side with any of Uncle Sam's
opponents—even if that means indulging a homophobic despot who has crushed
dissent at home and sent his forces to stifle democracy abroad.
The most recent example
of such reactionary anti-Americanism came last week from the celebrated
British-based journalist John Pilger, who made his name covering Vietnam. He
blamed the breakup of Ukraine on Washington's warmongers who "masterminded
the coup in February" and were orchestrating attacks on ethnic Russians.
"For the first time since the Reagan years, the U.S. is threatening to
take the world to war," he told Guardian readers. Similar paranoid
accusations have been made by the leader of the Stop the War Coalition,
Britain's most prominent peace group.
Such deluded analysis
is far from unique on the European left. In Germany, a left-wing daily newspaper
has run headlines that could have been written by Russian propagandists about
fascists controlling Ukraine. One German ex-cabinet minister said Kiev
"had to be taught" that it could not join NATO immediately, while
former Social Democrat chancellors have publicly hugged Mr. Putin, defended the
annexation of Crimea, and blamed the West for causing the crisis.
It is strange to see
those who had been incensed by the American invasion of Iraq defending this
devastating intervention in another nation. The most charitable explanation is
that they have fallen for propaganda about rampaging fascists taking over
Ukraine. They turn a blind eye to the rather more uncomfortable reality that
ultranationalists have captured the Kremlin. Renewed reverence for Russia on
the left is one more curious Cold War echo with this conflict.
Yet it is reflected on
the right too. Perhaps this makes more sense: The populist parties riding the
anti-politics wave sweeping Europe can identify with Mr. Putin's patriotism,
his cultural conservatism, his economic interventionism, his antipathy to
globalization, his muscular alliance with the religious establishment. But the
populists' support is really rooted in loathing of the European Union. This
makes them oblivious to pain caused in Ukraine, let alone the dangers of a
complex crisis spiraling out of control. "We have been told the EU stands
for peace," Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders told the Dutch Parliament.
"Now . . . we know better: the EU stands for warmongering."
Far-right fringe
parties are expected to do well in elections this month for the European
Parliament, which can only weaken resolve to impose tough new restrictions on
Russia. In France, the National Front is leading in opinion polls; its leader,
Marine Le Pen, has been courted by the Kremlin while her foreign-affairs chief
defended the discredited Crimea referendum and echoed Moscow's language about
an "illegitimate" government in Kiev. Little wonder an unpopular
Socialist government in France recently opted to carry on with the sale of two
aircraft carriers to Russia, ignoring U.S. pleas to pull the deal.
In Britain, the U.K.
Independence Party is also predicted to win the forthcoming European
parliamentary ballot. Ukip leader Nigel Farage alleged that the EU had
"blood on its hands" after meddling in Ukraine and professed his
admiration for Mr. Putin's political skills. But even some prominent members of
the ruling Conservative Party seem to prefer the former KGB apparatchik to
those hated bureaucrats in Brussels—former party chairman Lord Tebbit recently
expressed sympathy for Russia, having seen the bullying EU "annex"
chunks of central Europe.
Such are the delusions
on both left and right. Ukraine's travails were sparked by the desire for
democracy and self-determination, powerful forces that populists of all
persuasions elsewhere in Europe take for granted. Now we can only watch
nervously as this wounded country plans an election for May 25, seeking a path
to freedom and prosperity while, in the distance, Vladimir Putin seethes and
Europe shrugs.
Ian Birrel
