What is the Putin effect for the EU, Sweden and Finland
Federico Guiglia's notebook
Europe is already grappling with the effects of the war in Ukraine which has reached its fiftieth day: defense, diplomacy, economics, all the "great politics" of the Union are forced to change rapidly. By putting an end to historic neutrality, Sweden and Finland find it difficult to remain equidistant with Putin's shadow stretching and accelerating their demands to join NATO.
But even Moscow's warning in Helsinki was not long in coming and is captured in the movement of Russian military vehicles to the Finnish border.
It is not the only backlash resulting from a geopolitical balance that has been shattered with the conflict. At the same time, Kiev considers the President of the German Republic, Steinmeier, to be an "unwelcome person", who must renounce a solidarity visit with the presidents of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in the Ukrainian capital. The fact is that Zelensky has a long memory and does not forgive the German president for the pro-Russian policy he pursued when he was foreign minister. In particular, the support – withdrawn by Steinmeier only when the war broke out – for Nord Stream 2, the Russian-German gas pipeline now blocked. Zelensky views Moscow's energy to the West as the main source of funding for Putin and his bombs.
Precisely to free himself from an increasingly insidious dependence, Draghi flew to Algiers – the first stage of Italy's energy missions in Africa – to increase gas supplies that will cut those still received from Moscow by almost a third.
To regain its autonomy, Europe is looking for new strategies in every field, while Ukraine denounces that 500,000 of its citizens have been forcibly taken to Russia and the satellites confirm that Putin is amassing soldiers in the east. For the first time, the US promises heavy artillery in Kiev. "There is no possibility of a ceasefire," said the UN secretary general, Guterrez, admitting his helplessness.
But the final battle being fought Mariupol, a key city in the Kremlin's plans to unite Crimea with Donbass, is independent of the European scenario that is taking shape in the meantime. Pending a truce that does not come, the EU begins to redefine its role in the world. Helping Ukraine is the priority: welcoming refugees and supporting those at home who resist the invader. But then the defense and then the energy.
The divided and inert Europe of before the war is already gone.
Published in Il Giornale di Vicenza
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/qual-e-leffetto-putin-per-ue-svezia-e-finlandia/ on Sun, 17 Apr 2022 05:44:01 +0000.