But alongside our sympathy there is also anger. Anger that this could happen; anger that a conflict that could have been stopped by Moscow has been fomented by Moscow; anger that some in the West, instead of finding the resolve to deal with this issue, have simply hoped it would go away. If this is the case then we must be clear what it means: this is a direct result of Russia destabilising a sovereign state, violating its territorial integrity, backing thuggish militias and training and arming them. We must turn this moment of outrage into a moment of action. Action to find those who committed this crime and bring them to justice. But this goes much wider than justice. In Europe we should not need to be reminded of the consequences of turning a blind eye when big countries bully smaller countries. We should not need reminding of the consequences of letting the doctrine of “might is right” prevail. We should not need to be reminded of the lessons of European history. But we do. For too long there has been a reluctance on the part of too many European countries to face up to the implications of what is happening in eastern Ukraine. Sitting around the European Council table on Wednesday evening I saw that reluctance at work again.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 09:18:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015