Snyder: Europe between oligarchy & inclusion

3 02 2014

Historian Timothy Snyder, author of Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin and The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999:

“Since late November, millions of Ukrainians have campaigned for a pro-European course, only to find themselves branded extremists, foreign agents and criminals. With the Russian money came the Russian model of rule. Yanukovych had the Parliament illegally “pass” legislation that made Ukraine a dictatorship on Jan. 16.

“The new laws were imitations of Russian ones. But Ukraine is not Russia. [. . .]

“Before and during the Games, it would be worthwhile watching for three signs of escalation: If Russian propaganda insists that the Ukrainian opposition are Nazis and anti-Semites (such manipulative exploitation of the memory of World War II is already underway); if terrorist attacks in Russia during the Olympic Games are blamed on Ukrainian nationalists; and, finally, if Russian forces ostensibly in southwestern Russia to secure the Games are assembled not to the east of Sochi but to the west — along the Ukrainian border. [. . .]

“This is a test for the European Union. The Ukrainian leaders who organize violence and keep close ties with Russia are already in Europe — with their diplomatic passports, bank accounts, front companies, residences and lobbyists. The real question is whether oligarchy or inclusion is the future of Europe.”

Read the whole article here.