The new year offers a perfect opportunity for Russia to take the initiative and launch an international offensive against the countries formerly occupied by the Soviet Union. Taking a passive stance and waiting for Finlandization to take hold will get Russia nowhere.
(Finlandization is understood to refer to countries who have maintained their national sovereignty but do not challenge a more powerful neighbour in foreign policy. It was used to warn about the Soviet Union’s efforts to gain influence in Europe by the same oppressive methods they used on Finland.)
“The last one and a half decades proves, that regimes, whose self-identity contains anti-Kremlin notions, are not able to be Finlandized. We must realize that our foreign policy attempts at Finlandization are without results. Even in the event of Savisaar assuming power, Estonia will not relinquish its role as a US ‘aircraft carrier’,” wrote Dmitri Jermolajev for ERR News Regnum.
(Former prime minister and currently Tallinn mayor Edgar Savisaar is perceived to be a Moscow-friendly politician. In June of 2008 Latvia revoked a visa issued to Dmitri Jermolajev.)
According to Jermolajev, “Countries exhibiting Russophobian tendencies are not a threat in themselves. The problem is that these countries have become pawns of the USA and the European Union, through which Washington and Brussels hold Russia in check.”
Jermolajev considers 2010 to be the most ideal time for a change in Moscow’s tactics. “Ukraine and Moldova are immersed in post-election in-fighting. The Baltic states are on the verge of bankruptcy. Georgia’s image has been tarnished by the Saakašvili problem. Azerbaijan has been offended by the west because of the warming of relations between Turkey and Armenia.”
He adds that the USA has become bogged down in Afghanistan and desperately needs Russian help. The European Union will be concentrating on getting the Lisbon treaty to work.
“Therefore Russia will not be hindered by any resistance in the near future, from either regional or international players. During this time Russia must eliminate all anti-Russian activities in these Russophobic countries and at the very minimum not impede the weakening of their central governments,” he stressed.
In mentioning Stalin, Jermolajev said that boundaries, established by Stalin, but not currently favourable for Russia, should not be supported. This was obviously an indirect reference to Georgia, Moldova and other countries whose territorial integrity Russia continues to violate.
Regnum, considered by many to be a marginal news outlet has a monthly readership of 1,800,000, according to Wikipedia. It is fourth in Russia as a reference source.
Russia should take the offensive rather than wait for Finlandization (1)
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