Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
All the EU have done so far is agreed a free trade deal. This is apparently the will of the majority of the population of the Ukraine who don't want to be in the clutches of Russia nor a pawn in a second-coming of the Eastern bloc.
I don't believe it can't happen in Europe. I think it's unlikely. However the answer is not appeasement to ever more aggressive Russian expansion. They will not stop if we cede them the Ukraine.
The right to self-determination should be paramount. These aren't Russia's countries, they belong to the people of those countries and they, not Russia nor the EU, should choose who governs them and what agreements they enter into. If they want to enter a free-trade agreement with the EU then more power to them.
Frankly I don't see any benefit in enlarging the EU right now or in the foreseeable future, even less so if it risks falling foul of the likes of Russia who've proved themselves to be unpredictable in the past. Like it or not Russia is a very powerful country and we shouldn't be playing call my bluff with them.
Sometimes you can't do anything. Sometimes you can push back. We do push back against China where we can, we put pressure on them to help us reign in North Korea, we put pressure on them not to infringe on the rights of Taiwan. Now we're pushing back against Russia by supporting the people of that country in upholding their right to choose who governs them and not abandoning them to the Kremlin.
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You still haven't said at what point that pushing should stop or acknowledged that the next push back might just be one push too far with calamitous results. We can't help everyone towards self determination and some would say, by being part of the EU ironically, we've sacrificed much of ours to people we don't elect.