News Analysis - The EU's attack on Russia
WORKERS, JUNE 2007 ISSUE
The European Union's stance at its recent summit with Russia has increased international tensions and the danger of war. It seems most likely that, in a break with previous practice, no joint declaration will be issued at the end of the summit, because of the extent of the disagreements.
On the first day of the summit, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned Russia that any problems it has with an individual EU state are problems with the whole EU bloc. The EU went on to refuse to begin the long-delayed talks on a new strategic partnership agreement between the EU and Russia, because Poland, supported by Lithuania, imposed a veto on any such accord. The EU supported the Polish veto – Barroso said, "The Polish problem is a European problem. The Lithuanian and Estonian problems are also EU problems."
The "Estonian problem" is a reference to Estonia's removal in April of the World War II monument in central Tallinn celebrating the heroism of the Red Army soldiers who freed Estonia from Nazi occupation. The removal provoked widespread and angry demonstrations in Estonia, and Estonian police responded viciously, killing one demonstrator and injuring more than 160. The EU has quite unnecessarily interfered in this matter, which can only be resolved by bilateral negotiations between Russia and Estonia. But the EU's intervention has severely worsened the relations between the EU and Russia.
Serbian flashpoint
Widening the rift, the EU and the USA are jointly sponsoring a UN Security Council resolution proposing Kosovo's secession from Serbia. Russia is concerned for the safety of Kosovo's Serb minority, and says it will not support any deal on Kosovo's status that the Serbian government opposes. Russia wants more talks between Serbian and Kosovan leaders, and more discussions in the UN Security Council.
So, as Russia's ambassador to the UN said on 12 May, Russia is increasingly likely to veto the EU–US resolution. The EU finds this most upsetting, and EU officials threaten that a Russian veto would mark a watershed in EU–Russian relations.
But the EU and the USA are out of order on this matter. As a general rule, the UN and its member states oppose claims for unilateral secession. International law forbids the unilateral redrawing of boundaries by secession or territorial seizure and it outlaws the recognition of provinces unilaterally declaring independence against the wishes of the federal authorities. There are good reasons for this: empires have always practised divide and rule, and, as the EU knows full well, there is no better way to divide people than to split them into separate statelets.
So, contrary to the official myth, the EU is not some neutral, peace-loving, third force. It lines up with the USA; it is intimately linked with NATO. On every one of the world's trouble-spots, it backs the US position. Now the EU, with US support, is trying to re-ignite old antagonisms against Russia; it is adding grist to the warmongers' mill.