 |
| (click to see full-sized image) NATO Expansion - Surrounding Russia. (Map by John Little) |
The West said to Ukraine: "You can integrate into Europe if you agree to screw over your middle class." It tried to muscle Ukraine into an austerity "deal" that required massive Republican-type budget cuts, a 40% increase in gas bills, and further squeezing of the poor. The elected government said "no" and went for Russia's deal instead. In response the US helped instigate a "ready and waiting" uprising that overthrew Ukraine's elected government and ended in Russia's annexation of Crimea. —Ron Jackson
By John Little
Recent developments in Eastern Europe have brought the world to the brink of a major crisis, one that has the potential to destabilize countries around the world. Let's be clear, however, about the origin and the importance of these events.
The beginning did not occur in Crimea, nor in the coup d'etat in Ukraine, which saw the ouster of democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych at the end of February of 2014. The start of this conundrum goes back to November 21, 2013, when Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov stated that the conditions that finally blocked the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement signing deal were proposals by the International Monetary Fund in the form of a loan that would require big budget cuts and a 40% increase in gas bills, disproportionately impacting poor people across the country.
At the same time, a projected major drop in trade with the other CIS countries (Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) was obviously going to leave the Ukrainian economy in even worse condition. The Ukrainian government wanted to bring all the major parties together to discuss this before signing. According to David M. Herszenhorn of the New York Times, "At virtually the same time [of the announcement by the Prime Minister], President Viktor F. Yanukovich, who was on a visit to Vienna, issued a statement saying, "Ukraine has been and will continue to pursue the path to European integration .'"
Let's also remember that the protests, called "Euromaidan" (or Eurosquare in English) by those who started them in that square, began just hours after Prime Minister Azarov made his pronouncement. In other words, thousands of the opposition were waiting for just such a statement to be made so that they could begin their active and violent protests. These were definitely not people who just started discussing the issue after that day's events.
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment