This post will reveal the history of Ukraine’s continuing warning to Europe, and in particular to German authorities about the security dangers of the violent Russian regime and politics. It will demonstrate how the ignorant and weak reaction of German politics to these threats (given the prevalence of economic interests over security and European values) indirectly supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and how the Russian regime abused European languidness and neutrality to launch a large-scale war in Europe. This blogpost is not so much about condemning the mistakes of European politicians, but about suggesting ways to solve these problems, taking into account the experience with obvious mistakes.
The preconditions of the Russian invasion against Ukraine are of various kinds, historical and modern, direct and indirect, caused by both Ukrainian miscalculations and by shortcomings of European politics. One of the significant historical faults was the lack of condemnation of the communist ideology’s violence. The crimes of the Nazi regime were condemned by the world community through the Nuremberg Trials, and today the confession and spread of Nazi ideology is subject to criminal prosecution in European countries. Soviet crimes informed by communist ideology, on the other hand, went unpunished after World War II and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and led to a revirement of neo-imperialist Russian ideology and the formation of a modern autocratic Russian regime.
Recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a distinction between Russia’s political leadership and the innocent Russian people. Such a differentiation would be justified and acceptable in the absence of continuous ideological propaganda by the Russian regime. Instead, most ordinary Russians support the actions of the Russian regime and aggression against Ukraine. Therefore, Russia’s social reality must be properly assessed and taken into account in the reorientation of European security policy.
The recent news that Bavarian, Lower Saxonian, Berlin and Bremen authorities have announced potential consequences under criminal law for the public use of the “Z” symbol, deserves approval. Likewise, the German Interior Ministry has declared that displaying the “Z” symbol may be punishable as public endorsement of Russia’s war against Ukraine according to Section 140 of the German Criminal Code.
Ukrainian Warnings and European Silence
Another precondition for the Russian invasion was the European silence on constant Ukrainian appeals and warnings. They have been communicated to Western governments since 2014, the occupation of Crimea and the concealed invasion of Donbas. The Ukrainian authorities called for strengthening Ukraine’s integration both in the fields of economy and military security. At the outset, Ukraine appealed to all core European actors, foremost to Germany, on the necessity to impose on Russia not only economic sanctions, but also more active security policy measures. The subsequently imposed economic sanctions did not have the desired effects; to the contrary, Russia even intensified its military build-up. The continuation of the conflict in Donbas and the occupation of Crimea did not prevent strengthened economic cooperation with the Russian autocratic regime. The Nord Stream II project, used primarily for political purposes by the Russian regime and supported by German authorities, developed rapidly and even reached the stage of certification. The German government has chosen a relatively neutral containment strategy vis-à-vis Russia. The culmination of Ukraine’s appeals was President Zelensky’s speech at the Munich Security Conference five days before the Russian invasion. Germany’s passive policy, favoring its economic interests over the interests of European regional security and common values, has strikingly failed.
How not to step on a Russian rake twice
First of all, in contrast to European transparency and commitment to taken obligations, Russia’s official positions and assurances do not deserve trust. Russia’s calls for a f