Ukraine smells of gunpowder… – Article by Giorgos T. Georgiou – Member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the AKEL Limassol District Organisation

 

 

12 February 2022, Haravgi

This is not the first time history has repeated itself! For some time now, the danger of a new bloodbath centred on Ukraine has been brewing. Tension is being perpetuated with the deployment of new NATO forces to promote the plans for the encirclement of Russia. Moscow has long ago stated that the best way to reduce tensions is for NATO to withdraw its forces from Eastern Europe, reiterating that Russia has no intention of invading Ukraine.

However, the US has already put 8,500 troops on standby for immediate deployment in Eastern Europe, and 6 US F-16s fighter jets will be stationed in Estonia for about 10 days. At the same time, about 80 tons of American military equipment arrived in Ukraine, part of the new military “aid” of 200 million dollars. Other European countries, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, led by the British, are also involved in the war effort and are planning to deploy hundreds of additional troops in the Baltic.

It is now absolutely clear that the Americans in the East are setting the stage for war. Just how close we are to this eventuality can be seen from the statements of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, who warns of the possibility of provocations in Eastern Ukraine. Thousands of ‘volunteers’ (far-right and nationalist elements) of Ukrainian army veterans have gathered at the contact line. The Americans and NATO forces in the East are well aware that Russia can reach Kiev within two hours. They also know that Ukraine is totally dependent on Russian natural gas and that once the tap is closed it will collapse. They also know that there are strong historical ties and that approximately 30% of the population is Russian or with close Russian ties.

Therefore the issue is certainly not their ‘love’ for Ukraine and its people. The American and NATO are simply instrumentalising Ukraine to impose their own imperialist plans, seeking to expand their global hegemony at a political, economic and military level.

∆Unfortunately, in the face of the criticality of these developments, the European Union seems incapable of responding to the core issues of peace, security and stability in the region. In fact, and indeed in practice, they are obeying the dictates of the EU’s “masters’, namely the Americans and NATO. Actually, certain countries are even showing an enviable haste to show what good disciples they are vis-à-vis the US and NATO. At the same time, they are well aware that a conflict would cause irreparable damage to Europe itself.

Everything hangs in the balance and when we say it smells like gunpowder, this must be interpreted both symbolically and literally.

But Europe cannot withstand and endure neither the perpetuation of Cold War policies, nor even more so any new wars. Now is the time for wise leaders, for the Europe of the peoples and workers. Europe needs to recall its own values, to defend peace and universal ideals, before it is too late!