Attempt to legalise aggression
By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, November 10
The Russian Parliament has finally adopted the law which states that Russia can use military force on the territory of any foreign country in order to ‘protect its citizens’. President Medvedev signed it. Now if the Kremlin considers that the rights of Russian citizens are being violated anywhere in the world it can “legally” attack any country. It can also distribute Russian passports anywhere it likes, according to its own understanding, and grant Russian citizenship to anyone in the world. So do not be surprised if thousands of Russian citizens suddenly appear in countries bordering Russia and some time later Moscow rushes to protect their rights.
The most concerning aspect of this arrogant legislation is the fact that the international community has not indignantly condemned this arrogant law. Why should any country in Western Europe be concerned, when they are hundreds of miles from Russia and it is unlikely that Moscow will decide to annex or occupy Spain or Belgium or Italy? They should consider Russia’s neighbours, who are also their own allies. OK, NATO member countries from the former Soviet Union such as the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are protected by NATO, but who knows what can stop Russia’s greed? As for CIS member countries not in NATO, they are in really big trouble. Russia can at any moment unleash aggression on any of them, create conflict situations, provoke instability and undertake military assaults. Just consider the likelihood of this possibility.
President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin state that Russian citizens should feel protected anywhere. They should have confidence that they are being protected by their motherland. Whatever they might say it is obvious that Russia does not really care for its citizens at all. This law is just a pretext for justifying its aggressive plans and actions.
In 2008 Russia launched an attack in Georgia without this legislation. Now it has legal grounds to repeat its aggression against Georgia, or go further and attack other neighbours. Ukraine could be the next in line. Some might argue that Ukraine is much bigger that Georgia and closer to Europe, so Moscow would not dare do this. But forget logical arguments - if Russia wants to do something, it will do it! Russian political analyst Dugin, in an article published on Segodnia.ru, gives a readymade recipe for how Russia can conduct itself towards Ukraine, suggesting that it could copy its conduct in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region in the eastern part of Ukraine and Crimea. Cynically he tries to prove, and maybe not without grounds, that the West will swallow this bitter pill just like it did when Russia attacked Georgia. It will limit itself to deep concern only. This is not a hysterical yell, this is a lesson which should be drawn.
The Ukrainian Presidential elections are approaching and developments there already show how the Russian factor is influencing them. Moscow is fully involved in an information war against the current Ukrainian leadership. Who can exclude that Russia will take some steps to protect the ethnic Russian population in Ukraine? There are already suspicions that Moscow has been distributing Russian passports in different regions, just as it has in Georgia for years. Recently the Kremlin propaganda machine has also launched a virtual attack on Georgia, accusing it of supporting terrorism in Russia and alleging links between Tbilisi and Al-Qaeda. Are such claims being made without a reason? How difficult would it be to gain the support of other countries for an assault on Georgia disguised as part of the War on Terror?
This new Russian law is a warning to the West and to the Georgian administration as well. It should do all it can to maintain stability in the country and avoid getting trapped into Russian provocations. This is very difficult under these circumstances, but is the only way for the country to survive.
The most concerning aspect of this arrogant legislation is the fact that the international community has not indignantly condemned this arrogant law. Why should any country in Western Europe be concerned, when they are hundreds of miles from Russia and it is unlikely that Moscow will decide to annex or occupy Spain or Belgium or Italy? They should consider Russia’s neighbours, who are also their own allies. OK, NATO member countries from the former Soviet Union such as the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are protected by NATO, but who knows what can stop Russia’s greed? As for CIS member countries not in NATO, they are in really big trouble. Russia can at any moment unleash aggression on any of them, create conflict situations, provoke instability and undertake military assaults. Just consider the likelihood of this possibility.
President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin state that Russian citizens should feel protected anywhere. They should have confidence that they are being protected by their motherland. Whatever they might say it is obvious that Russia does not really care for its citizens at all. This law is just a pretext for justifying its aggressive plans and actions.
In 2008 Russia launched an attack in Georgia without this legislation. Now it has legal grounds to repeat its aggression against Georgia, or go further and attack other neighbours. Ukraine could be the next in line. Some might argue that Ukraine is much bigger that Georgia and closer to Europe, so Moscow would not dare do this. But forget logical arguments - if Russia wants to do something, it will do it! Russian political analyst Dugin, in an article published on Segodnia.ru, gives a readymade recipe for how Russia can conduct itself towards Ukraine, suggesting that it could copy its conduct in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region in the eastern part of Ukraine and Crimea. Cynically he tries to prove, and maybe not without grounds, that the West will swallow this bitter pill just like it did when Russia attacked Georgia. It will limit itself to deep concern only. This is not a hysterical yell, this is a lesson which should be drawn.
The Ukrainian Presidential elections are approaching and developments there already show how the Russian factor is influencing them. Moscow is fully involved in an information war against the current Ukrainian leadership. Who can exclude that Russia will take some steps to protect the ethnic Russian population in Ukraine? There are already suspicions that Moscow has been distributing Russian passports in different regions, just as it has in Georgia for years. Recently the Kremlin propaganda machine has also launched a virtual attack on Georgia, accusing it of supporting terrorism in Russia and alleging links between Tbilisi and Al-Qaeda. Are such claims being made without a reason? How difficult would it be to gain the support of other countries for an assault on Georgia disguised as part of the War on Terror?
This new Russian law is a warning to the West and to the Georgian administration as well. It should do all it can to maintain stability in the country and avoid getting trapped into Russian provocations. This is very difficult under these circumstances, but is the only way for the country to survive.