Posted: 09.06.2022 14:25:00

Expert comments on EU’s possible collapse

The West's disappointment about the events happening in Ukraine has provoked an increase in unresolved problems in the European Union – as stated by Vadim Gigin, the Chairman of the Republican Znanie Belarusian Society, in his talk with Alfa Radio

“Many people thought that Russia's special military operation in Ukraine would reset the existing problems: i.e. between those who focused on Washington and those who believed that it was necessary to defend their own interests,” Mr. Gigin said, adding, “Why [French President Emmanuel] Macron and [German Chancellor Olaf] Scholz maintain contacts with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, although they are being criticised by someone in the West for this? Normal and balanced relations with Russia in any case meet the national interests of France and Germany. It is possible to publicly pour any dirt on anyone, but normal relations cannot but be maintained if preservation of independence and economic security are at the stake.”

The expert turned to Belarus as an example, “Our country has been erased from almost everywhere, and sanctions have been imposed. And what happened? [UN Secretary General Antonio] Guterres called Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko because grain needs to be supplied. Harvests could be problematic without Belarusian potash fertilisers. It has turned out that it is more trouble than it is worth to ‘cut out’ Belarus from the airspace, and there are a lot of such moments. Therefore, a conflict between political ambitions of the West and real national interests is emerging,” he explained.

“As for Poland, it is now Washington's main counterparty in the European Union. Until recently, the UK has performed the role of such a jackal, so the United States was against Brexit,” Mr. Gigin noted. According to him, Poland's role under American influence irritates other European countries: it does not want to pay and behaves extremely aggressively towards them. “Moreover, Poland is ideologically far from the value concept that exists in the EU, and it has actually established an authoritarian regime of the Kaczynski, Duda and Morawiecki grouping. They rely on aggressive supporters of ultraconservatives and the elderly electorate of rural areas and small towns. The European Union is not satisfied with this.”

The expert added that a wave of disappointment in the West’s position regarding Ukraine provoked a growth of previously unresolved problems. “A conflict between official Brussels and Warsaw has been one of the key ones for years. Poland was earlier deprived of funding, it was threatened with political sanctions, and an issue was raised to take its right to vote in the EU away," he said.

Mr. Gigin recalled an article by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who ‘wrote that the EU should become a federation in which individual votes will not be taken into account, and decisions will be made by the majority’. "Many thought it was directed against Hungary, which is blocking sanctions packages, but it is also directed against Poland. In fact, anyone who disagrees with the general concept will be isolated – and this will lead to a collapse of the European Union," the political expert concluded.