European Union: From economic community to alliance of warmongers

Peter Schwarz, wsws.org

European Union leaders in Brussels.

The European powers, led by Germany, are on a confrontation course with Russia. They are pursuing not only foreign, but also domestic political aims.

The instigation of a crisis and confrontation with Moscow is aimed at unifying a divided European Union and silencing all social opposition. Previously, the identity of the EU was grounded on economic issues, such as the free movement of capital and goods and the common currency. In future, the struggle against a common enemy will replace economics as the basis of the EU’s internal cohesion.

A number of editorials in the German press have spelled this out. The Brussels correspondent of Der Spiegel, Gregor Peter Schmitz, writing on March 20 under the title “Europe’s Great Opportunity,” said, “As sad as the Crimean crisis is in many respects, it also offers an historic opportunity: To unite a stronger Europe.”

Green Party leader and foreign minister Joschka Fischer stated approvingly in a commentary for the Süddeutsche Zeitung on March 30 that the conflict with Moscow reminded Europeans that “the EU is not merely an economic community, but a political actor” whose “strategic interests” had “powerfully reemerged.”

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag (parliament), Norbert Röttgen, explained in the Financial Times of March 20: “But this conflict is not merely about Crimea or Ukraine… While we often struggled to speak with one voice in the past, the conflict with Russia is forcing Europeans to close ranks. It might become a catalyst for a common foreign and security policy.”

In turning to an aggressive foreign and military policy, the ruling elite is responding to a profound crisis of European capitalism. All of the attempts to unite Europe economically and socially have failed. The austerity measures with which Brussels and Berlin reacted to the 2008 financial crisis have exacerbated the conflicts between EU members and vastly intensified class antagonisms.

Social relations are strained to the breaking point. Within the EU, there are officially more than 26 million unemployed, corresponding to a rate of 11 percent. There is abject poverty in many regions, especially in the Eastern European countries that were incorporated into the EU 10 years ago and in the countries that have had to submit to the austerity programmes dictated by the EU and the International Monetary Fund. But even in supposedly rich Germany, one in three employees is deemed to be working under precarious conditions and 6 million people depend on welfare benefits.

More and more people are turning against the EU and see it for what it is—a tool of the most powerful banks and corporations, directed against working people and creating the conditions not for the progressive unification of Europe, but for the intensification of nationalist conflicts. Parties that oppose the EU are expected to garner record-high votes in next month’s European elections.

Under these circumstances, the war propaganda against Russia serves to divert internal tensions by projecting them outward against an external enemy. This applies especially to Eastern Europe, where corrupt politicians have long exploited Russo-phobia as a means of securing their rule.

The German government, which long sought a cooperative relationship with Moscow, has now embarked upon an anti-Russian course. It considers an aggressive policy towards Russia an appropriate means of welding the EU together and asserting German dominance in Europe. It is implementing in practice its proclamation in February of an end to the “policy of military restraint” and the adoption of a new policy based on “contributing to foreign and security policy earlier, more resolutely and more substantially.”

Germany is prepared to employ every means to this end. NATO has begun to move aircraft, ships and troops toward the Russian border and carry out military manoeuvres.

In Ukraine, the right-wing nationalist and fascist forces brought to power with the support of the West have created such an explosive situation that the smallest incident can escalate into a wider conflict or war. In their efforts to integrate Ukraine into the NATO sphere of influence and isolate Russia, the German government and its allies are willing to countenance the risk of nuclear war.

Their intervention in Ukraine has a further purpose. By collaborating with fascist parties and militia groups, they have created a precedent for all of Europe.

For a long time, among the established parties (officially, at least) the rule was that you did not cooperate with parties that defended the Nazis and their war crimes or spread anti-Semitism. The Svoboda party clearly falls into this category.

But over the past several months, high-level European and American officials have met with Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok and collaborated closely with his organization. Tyahnybok’s anti-Semitic tirades are documented and can be viewed on YouTube. Svoboda’s hero, Stepan Bandera, was a Nazi collaborator, responsible for the mass murder of Jews and Communists. Bandera remained a staunch defender of Mussolini until his death in 1959 in Munich.

What applies to Svoboda applies even more to fascist militia groups such as the Right Sector, on whose services the Western powers relied to drive out the elected Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. Not only fascists, but also known criminal elements are to be found in the ranks of the Right Sector.

Cooperation with Svoboda and the Right Sector has opened the door to using such forces against the working class in other European countries. The preparations for this are well advanced.

Panayiotis Baltakos, a close associate of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, had to resign a few days ago after a video emerged showing his close and friendly relations with the fascist Golden Dawn organization. In France, President Hollande has appointed Manuel Valls as head of government, knowing full well that Valls’ neo-liberal and anti-immigrant politics will give a further boost to the neo-fascist National Front of Marine Le Pen. In Hungary, the fascist Jobbik party has just won more than a fifth of the vote, having been systematically promoted by the ruling party, Fidesz.

European leaders can go down this route because none of the establishment parties opposes them. The official “left” parties and the pseudo-left groups that operate in their orbits support the war policy and collaboration with Ukrainian fascists. They glorify the fascist-led coup in Kiev as a “democratic revolution” and portray Russia as the “aggressor.” The German Left Party has responded to the revival of German militarism by endorsing for the first time the deployment of the Bundeswehr (armed forces) outside Germany, with five of its members of parliament voting to support a deployment in the Mediterranean.

Those who want to fight against war and fascism should support the Partei für Soziale Gleichheit (PSG) in Germany and the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Britain, which are participating in next month’s European elections to unite the working class in a struggle against militarism, austerity and the threat of dictatorship. The PSG and SEP reject the European Union and fight for the United Socialist States of Europe. Only the unification of Europe on a socialist basis can prevent the relapse of the continent into nationalism and war.

Peter Schwarz is a senior political analyst with wsws.

Ukraine: Lies and Realities

Will the Government Listen?

by ANDRE VLTCHEK

Tense standoff continues in Donetsk, with supporters of pro-Russia occupiers outside the building setting up a protective cordon.

Kiev.

_Two beautiful Slavic sisters, Ukraine and Russia, pitched against each other: long hair flying in the wind, gray-blue eyes staring forward accusatively, but in the same time with anticipation and love.

One single moment, one wrong move, one word, and two countries, two allies, two almost identical cultures, can easily dash at each other’s throats… Different words, different gestures, and they can also fall into each other’s arms, instantly.

Is there going to be a war, a battle or an embrace? Is there going to be an insult or reconciliatory words?

Ironically, there is no ‘self-grown dispute’ between two nations. The seeds of mistrust, and possible tragedy, are sown by the outsiders, and nurtured by their malignant propaganda.

As Sergei Kirichuk, leader of progressive movement ‘Borotba’, explained:

“We have extensive invasion of western imperialism here. Imperialists were acting through huge network of NGOs and through the western-oriented politicians integrated into western establishment. Western diplomats declared that they invested more that 5 billions of dollars to ‘development of democracy in Ukraine’. What kind of investment is it? How was this amount spent? We don’t really know, but we can see the wide net of the US agents operating inside many key organizations and movements.

We can see that those ‘western democracies’ had not been concerned at all about growing of the far-right, Nazi movements. They had been ready to use the Nazis as a real armed force in overthrowing of Yanucovich.

President Yanucovich was actually totally pro-western politician, to start with. And his ‘guilt’ consisted only of his attempt to minimize the devastating aftermath that would come after implementation of the free trade zone with EU, on which the West was insisting.”

***

Now Maidan, the main square of Kiev where the ‘revolution’ took place, is scarred, burned down, eerie.

Right-wingers, ultra-nationalists, young and not so young men with shaved heads, are watching pedestrians with confused, often provocative eyes.

Many of them are now controlling the traffic and, like in Thailand where the right-wingers also recently ‘protested, are deciding who can pass and who cannot. The law is clearly and patently in their hands, or more precisely, in Maidan area, they are the law.

Religious symbols are suddenly everywhere, while monuments to heroes of the revolution and the WWII are desecrated.

At the makeshift stage used by right-wing extremists, there is a huge crucifixion as well as Virgin Marry.

But many right-wingers are at total disarray, they are outraged, as one of their leaders, Aleksandr Muzychko, was murdered just one day earlier.

Oleh Odnorozhenko is speaking. He is angry, irritated, accusing the state, the same government his people brought to power through the coup just a short time ago, of political murder. He is calling for ‘the second stage of the revolution’, as if one past stage would not be terrible enough, already.

My friend Alexander is explaining to me: “This is going to be a tremendous mess. The West used all fascist and ultra-nationalist forces to destroy legitimate government of Ukraine, but paradoxically, these ultra right-wingers are essentially against both NATO and all those agreements with the European Union.”

Afghanistan, Al-Qaida, scenario, in brief and on smaller scale: use any force, any radicals, as long as you can manage to destroy the Soviet Union and later, Russia.

“They are going to get into each other’s hair very soon”, predicts Alexandr, former military intelligence officer.

***

The car is negotiating a bumpy four-lane highway between Kiev and Odessa. There are three of us on board – my translator, Dimitry from the Liva.com site, a driver, and me. Having left Kiev in the morning, we are literally flying at 160km/h towards Odessa.

The wide fields of Ukraine, formerly known as the ‘breadbasket’ of the Soviet Union, look depressingly unkempt. Some are burnt.

“What are they growing here?” I ask.

Nobody knows, but both of my friends agree that almost everything in Ukraine is now collapsing, after the decomposition of the USSR, and this includes both industry and agriculture. The roads are not an exception, either.

“They only built facades during the last decades”, explains Dimitry. “The core, the essence had been constructed in the Soviet era. And now everything is crumbling.”

***

I have no idea where the official numbers come from; those that say that Ukraine is evenly divided between those who support the West, and those who feel their identity is closely linked with Russia. Maybe this might be the case in Western Ukraine, in Lvov, or even in the capital – Kiev. But Western Ukraine has only a few key cities. The majority of people in this country of around forty-four million are concentrated in the south, east and southeast, around the enormous industrial and mining centers of Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, and Krivoi Rog. There is Odessa in the south, and Kharkov ‘the second capital’ in the east. And people in all those parts of the country mainly speak Russian. And they see, what has recently happened in Kiev as an unceremonious coup, orchestrated and supported by the West.

***

Before reaching Odessa we leave the highway and drive northeast, towards Moldova and its small separatist enclave, called Transnistria.

There, the river Kuchurgan separates the Ukrainian town of Kuchurgan and the Transnistrian city of Pervomaisc.

I see no Russian tanks at Pervomaisc, no artillery. There is absolutely no military movement whatsoever, despite the countless Western mass media reports testifying (in abstract terms) to the contrary.

I cross the bridge on foot and ask the Transnistrian border guard, whether he has recently seen any foreign correspondents arriving from the United States or the European Union, attempting to cross the border and verify the facts. He gives me a bewildered look.

I watch beautiful white birds resting on the surface of the river, and then I return to Ukraine.

There, two ladies who run the ‘Camelot Bar’ served us the most delicious Russo/Ukrainian feast of an enormous borscht soup, and pelmeni.

Russian television station blasts away, and the two women cannot stop talking; they are frank, proud, and fearless. I turn on my film camera, but they don’t mind:

“Look what is happening in Kiev”, exclaims Alexandra Tsyganskaya, the owner of the restaurant. “The US and the West were planning this; preparing this, for months, perhaps years! Now people in Ukraine are so scared, most of them are only whispering. They are petrified. There is such tension everywhere, that all it would take is to light a match and everything will explode.”

Her friend, Evgenia Chernova, agrees: “In Odessa, Russian-speaking people get arrested, and they are taken all the way to Kiev. The same is happening in Kharkov, in Donetsk, and elsewhere. They call it freedom of speech! All Russian television channels are banned. What you see here is broadcasted from across the border. They treat people like cattle. But our people are not used to this: they will rebel, they will resist! And if they push them to the edge, it will be terrible!”

Both women definitely agree on one thing: “We say, ‘don’t provoke Russia!’ It is a great nation, our historical ally. It has been helping us for decades.”

‘A civil war’, I hear in Kuchurgan. ‘A civil war!’ I hear in Odessa. ‘A civil war!’ I hear in Kharkov.

And the same words in Odessa are even written on huge banners: “Kiev, people are not cattle!”

Odessa city, that architectural jewel, an enormous southern port, is now relatively quiet, but tense. I speak to the manager of the historic and magnificently restored Hotel Bristol, but she is very careful in choosing her words. I mention Western involvement in the coup, or in the ‘revolution’ as many in Kiev and in the West call it, but she simply nods, neutrally.

I cross the street and enter the Odessa Philharmonic Theatre. A young lady approaches me: “Would you like to have my ticket?” She asks in perfect Russian. “My boyfriend did not show up. Please enjoy.”

The performance is bizarre, and clearly ‘un-philharmonic’. Some renowned folk ensemble performs old Ukrainian traditional songs and dances, but why here and why now? Is it a patriotic gesture, or something else?

The city is subdued, as well as those famous Potemkin Stairs: Renowned for one of the most memorable scenes in world cinema that of, the silent film ‘Battleship Potemkin’ directed in 1925 by Sergei M. Eisenstein.

As Helen Grace once wrote:

The Odessa steps massacre in the film condenses the suppression, which actually occurred in the city, into one dramatised incident, and this remains one of the most powerful images of political violence ever realised.

One only hopes that Odessa never again falls victim to unbridled political cruelty, such as was visited on the people by the feudal, oppressive right-wing Tsarist regime, at the beginning of the 20^thcentury!

***

Babushka looks exhausted and subdued. She is slowly digging into dark earth, all alone, clearly abandoned.

I spotted some collapsed houses in the village that we had passed just a few minutes earlier, and I asked the driver to make a U-turn, but he clearly did not see any urgency and continued to drive on: “You will see many villages like this”, he explained. Dimitry confirmed: “Such villages one are all over Ukraine. There are thousands of them; literally, you see them whenever you leave the main roads.”

This one, this village, is called Efremovka, and the name of a grandmother is Lyubov Mikhailovna.

We are somewhere between the cities of Nikolayev and Krivoi Rog.

All around us are the ruins of agricultural estates, of small factories, and houses that used to belong to farmers. Wires are missing from electric poles, and everything appears to be static, like in a horror science-fiction film. Only Lyubov Mikhailovna is digging, stubbornly.

I ask her how she is managing to survive, and she replies that she is not managing at all.

“How could one survive here on only one thousand Hryvnas per month (around US$80)?” she laments. “We are enduring only on what we grow here: cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes…”

I ask her about the ruins of houses, all around this area, and she nods for a while, and only then begins speaking: “People abandoned their homes and their villages, because there are no jobs. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the entire Ukraine has been falling apart… People are leaving and they are dying. Young people try to go abroad…. The government is not even supplying us with gas and drinking water, anymore. We have to use the local well, but the water is contaminated by fertilizers – it is not clean…”

“Was it better before?” I ask.

Her face brightens up. She stops speaking for a while, searching her memory, recalling long bygone days. Then she answers: “How can you even ask? During the Soviet Union everything was better, much better! We all had jobs and there were decent salaries, pensions… We had all that we needed.”

Looking around me, I quickly recall that Ukraine is an absolute demographic disaster: even according to official statistics and censuses, the number of people living in this country fell from 48,457,102 in 2001 to 44,573,205 in 2013. Years after its ‘independence’, and especially those between 1999 and 2001, are often described as one of the worst demographic crises in modern world history. In 1991 the population of Ukraine was over 51.6 million!

Only those countries that are devastated by brutal civil wars are experiencing similar population decline.

***

Krivoi Rog or Kryvyi Rih as it is known in the Ukrainian language – is arguably the most important steel manufacturing city in Eastern Europe, and a large globally important, metallurgical center for what is known as the Kryvbas iron- ore mining region.

Here Krivorozhstal, one of the most important steel factories in the world, it had seen outrageous corruption scandals during its first wave of privatization. During the second privatization in 2005, the mammoth factory was taken over by the Indian multi-national giant, Mittal Steel (which paidUS$4.81 billion), and was renamed Arcelor Mittal Kryvyi Rih. Since then, production has declined significantly, and thousands of workers were unceremoniously fired.

According to the Arcelor Mittal Factbooks (2007 and 2008), steel production decreased from 8.1 million tons in 2007, to 6.2 million tones in 2008. In 2011, the workforce decreased from 55,000 to 37,000 tons, and the management is still hoping that even more dramatic job cuts (down to 15,000) can be negotiated.

By late afternoon, we arrived at the main gate of the factory. Hundreds of people were walking by; most of them looking exhausted, discouraged and unwilling to engage in any conversation.

Some shouted anti-coup slogans, but did not want to give their names or go on the record.

Finally, a group of tough looking steelworkers stops, and begins to discuss the situation at the factory with us, passionately:

“Do you realize how little we earn here? People at this plant, depending on their rank, bring home only some US$180, US$260, or at most some US$450 a month. Across the border, in Russia, in the city of Chelyabinsk, the salaries are three to four times higher!”

His friend is totally wound up and he screams: “We are ready! We will go! People are reaching the limit!”

It is hard to get any political sense from the group, but it is clear that opinions are divided: while some want more foreign investment, others are demanding immediate nationalization. They have absolutely no disputes with Russia, but some support the coup in Kiev, while others are against it.

It is clear that, more than ideology; these people want some practical improvement in their own lives and in the life of their city.

“All we have heard, for the past twenty years is that things will improve”, explains the first steel worker. “But look what is happening in reality. Mittal periodically fails to pay what is due. For instance, I am supposed to get 5,700 Hryvnas a month, but I get less than 5,000. And the technology at the plant is old, outdated. The profits that Mittal is making – at least if some of it would stay here, in Ukraine, and go to the building of the roads or improving the water supplies… But they take everything out of the country.”

The next day, in Kharkov, Sergei Kirichuk, concludes:

“People all over the world are fighting against so-called ‘free market’, but in Ukraine, to bring it here, was the main reason for the ‘revolution’. It is really hard to believe.”

***

The border between Ukraine and Russia, near the town of Zhuravlevka, between Ukrainian Kharkov and the Russian city of Belgorod, is quiet. Good weather, wide fields and an almost flat landscape, guarantee good visibility for several kilometers. On the 28 of March, when Western and Ukrainian mass media were shouting about an enormous Russian military force right at the border, I only saw a few frustrated birds and an apparently unmanned watch tower.

The traffic at the border was light, but it was flowing – and several passenger cars were crossing from the Russian side to Ukraine.

What I saw, however, were several Ukrainian tanks along the M-20/E-105 highway, just a stone throw away from the borderline. There were tanks and there were armored vehicles, and quite a substantial movement of Ukrainian soldiers.

The local press was, however, not as aggressive, provocative:

“State of War!” shouted the headlines of Kyiv Post. “We lifted up to the sky 100 jet fighters, in order to scare Moscow”, declared ‘Today’.

***

The reality on the ground differed sharply from the ‘fairytales’, paid for and propagated by Western mass media outlets and by the ‘free Ukrainian press’.

In Kharkov, Soviet banners flew in the wind, next to many Russian flags. Thousands of people gathered in front of the giant statue of Lenin on those windy days of 28^th and 29^th of March.

There were fiery speeches and ovations. The outraged crowd met the proclamations that the Western powers had instigated the ‘fascist coup’ in Kiev, with loud shouts: “Russia, Russia!”

Old women, Communist leaders, and my friend Sergei Kirichuk, as well as people from international solidarity organizations, made fiery speeches. Apparently, the government in Kiev had already begun to cut the few social benefits that were left, including free medical assistance. Several hospitals were poised to close down, soon.

People were ready to fight; to defend themselves against those hated neo-liberal policies, for which (or against which) none of them had been allowed to vote for.

“In Crimea, people voted, overwhelmingly, to return to Russia”, explained a young man, a student, Alexei. “But the West calls it unconstitutional and undemocratic. In Ukraine itself, the democratically elected government has been overthrown and policies that nobody really wants are being pushed down our throats. And… this is called democracy!”

In an apartment of the Borodba movement, a young leader and history student, Irina Drazman, spoke about the way the West destroyed Ukraine. She reminded me of a Chilean student leader and now an MP – Ms. Camila Vallejo. Irina is only twenty, but coherent and as sharp as a razor.

“There is great nostalgia for the Soviet Union”, she explains. “If only it could be re-shaped and the concept improved, most of the people in Ukraine would be happy to be part of it again.”

And that is exactly what the West tries to prevent: A powerful and united country, one which can defend the interest of its people.

Standing in front of a police cordon in Kharkov, Alexandr Oleinik, a Ukrainian political analyst, explains:

“The essence of what is now happening is based on the doctrine of the United States, which has one major goal: To wipe out from the globe, first the Soviet Union, and then Russia, regardless of its form; whether socialist or capitalist… As is well known, these goals were already defined in the early 1980’s, by Zbigniew Brzezinski, in his report to the US Department of State, “Game Plan: A Geostrategic Framework for the Conduct of the U.S.-Soviet Contest”.

Besieged square in front of the court of justice may not be the most comfortable place for political discussions, but Mr. Oleinik has plenty to share:

“After destroying USSR, the US is, until now, making enormous effort to, in accordance with the ‘Brzezinski Doctrine’, to drag Russia, Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries, into exhausting regional conflicts, in order to out root from the consciousness of the people of these nations all thoughts about reunification (be it a customs union, common economic sphere, etc.). Series of ‘color revolutions’ from so-called American doctrine of ‘advancement of democracies’ became a clear proof of the essence of the geopolitical interests of the US. Libya, Tunis, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yugoslavia – all this is from the same shelf.”

“Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, even China”, I continue.

Policemen are looking at us suspiciously, as both of us are naming dozens and dozens of countries located in all corners of the world.

***

In Kiev’s Maidan, the main square where the ‘revolution’ or the coup took place, the right-wing groupings are hanging around, aimlessly. Some men and women are frustrated. Many now even feel that they were fooled.

Thousands were paid to participate in what was thought would bring at least some social justice, some relief. But the interim government began taking dictate, almost immediately: from the United States, from European Union and from the institutions such as IMF and World Bank.

Now thousands of disgruntled ‘revolutionaries’ feel frustrated. Instead of saving the country, they sold all ideals, and betrayed their own people. And their own lives went from bad to worse.

The tension is growing and Ukraine is on the edge.

There is growing tension, even confrontation, between conservative, oppressive forces and those progressive ones. There is tension between Russian speakers and those who are insisting on purely Ukrainian language being used all over the country.

There are political assassinations; there is fear and uncertainty about the future.

There is increasing and negative role being played by the religions: from Protestant to Orthodox.

Nobody knows what will follow the coup. Confusion and frustration, as well as social collapse, may well cause a brutal civil war.

Protesters are now, this very moment, occupying government buildings in Donetsk and Lugansk, demanding referendum. Majority of people in these and other cities would rather join Russia then to live in pro-Western dictatorship, which Ukraine became after the coup.

Same tactics that were lauded by Western propaganda during the Maidan uprising are now hypocritically condemned in the east and south of the country.

Russia gained greatly, especially in the non-Western world. It is now recognized as the center of global ‘mutiny’ against global dictatorship of the US and EU. It opened one more front of resistance, and it stands alongside countries of Latin America.

Its generally peaceful and measured approach is in direct contrast to brutal and destabilizing methods used by the US and EU all over the globe. Except in those few fully indoctrinated modern-day colonies (which the West calls ‘democracies’ just because the people there can stick a piece of paper to a carton box, and most are stupidly doing so), the world is waking up to reality that there actually is, suddenly, some strong and determined resistance to Western imperialism.

After decades of total darkness, the hope is emerging.

In the meantime, two beautiful Slavic countries are still facing each other. But the people, particularly those in Ukraine, are now waving Russian flags and shout to the faces of riot police that is obedient to Kiev: “Russia! Russia!”

No matter what the propaganda says, reality is well known. For decades, after destruction of the USSR, Ukraine mainly obeyed the West and Russia went its own, determinedly independent way.

The result is: Ukraine is on its knees (although not as horribly yet as some East European countries like Bulgaria, that actually became full members of the EU). Wages for workers and pensions for elderly are now approximately 3-4 times higher in Russia than in Ukraine.

And Russia has its own, independent voice, flying all over the world though the outlets like RT and Voice of Russia, while Ukraine is a clearly a colony.

It is obvious in what direction the majority of Ukrainians is now looking with hope. The government should listen. It should also call referendum, soon. It should use ‘direct democracy’, not some rigged multi-party charade like in Indonesia.

Two countries that share both history and the future, should embrace. And face the wind, and tremors, together! They should never fight each other – Russia and Ukraine are soul mates, not enemies. Those who are dividing them should be exposed, shamed, and expelled!

Ukrainean armored vehicle on Russian border.

Ukraine or Russia, could you really tell difference?

Student leader Irina Drazman in Kharkov.

So called Maidan revolutionaries.

Right wingers took over the city.

Political analyst Alexandr Oleinik.

Oro Western paramilitaries controlling city council of Kiyev.

Maidan mess.

Leader of Borodba – Sergei Kirichuk.

Grandmother from Efremovka.

Andre Vltchek is a novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. His discussion with Noam Chomsky On Western Terrorism is now going to print. His critically acclaimed political novel Point of No Return is now re-edited and available. Oceania is his book on Western imperialism in the South Pacific. His provocative book about post-Suharto Indonesia and the market-fundamentalist model is called “Indonesia – The Archipelago of Fear”. He has just completed the feature documentary, “Rwanda Gambit” about Rwandan history and the plunder of DR Congo. After living for many years in Latin America and Oceania, Vltchek presently resides and works in East Asia and Africa. He can be reached through his website or his Twitter.

US-backed regime drops deadline against east Ukraine protesters, but threat of war remains

By Mike Head, Senior Political Commentator, wsws.org

Fascist thugs showing their true colors during Kiev's disturbances.

_The dangers of a civil war and a US-provoked war with Russia still hang over the people of Ukraine, despite the Western-backed regime in Kiev backing away from a 48-hour deadline for a violent crackdown on protesters occupying government offices in eastern Ukraine.

Just after the deadline expired, the pro-US regime’s interim prime minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk, attempted to undercut the protests by pledging to push through a constitutional change allowing referenda for regional autonomy in the country.

Two days earlier, Ukraine’s interim interior minister, Arsen Avakov, gave protesters in the key eastern cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Lugansk 48 hours to quit the buildings. Andrei Senchenko, the deputy head of the presidential administration in Kiev, declared that the regime’s security forces would “shoot to kill.”

Yesterday, Yatsenyuk only partially backed away from this ultimatum, saying he was “against forceful scenarios,” but adding, “everything has a limit.”

By threatening a bloodbath, the far-right regime in Kiev revealed the blatant hypocrisy and double standards in the US- and European Union-orchestrated regime-change operation in Ukraine. Just weeks after using neo-fascist forces as shock troops in overthrowing the elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych—claiming Yanukovych had lost his legitimacy by deploying security forces to attack anti-government demonstrators—the unelected, Western-installed regime declared its intent to massacre people opposing the coup.

The fraud of the Western powers’ claims to be championing democracy has not been lost on people in eastern Ukraine. Interviewed by Russian Television, Aleksey, a Kharkiv student, commented: “In Crimea, people voted, overwhelmingly, to return to Russia … But the West calls it unconstitutional and undemocratic. In Ukraine itself, the democratically-elected government has been overthrown and policies that nobody really wants are being pushed down our throats. And … this is called democracy!”

The regime’s deadline was dropped amid mounting evidence of widespread working class resistance in eastern Ukraine, the country’s industrial and mining heartland, fuelled by outrage over the regime’s savage austerity measures, dictated by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, as well as deep-seated hostility to the fascist forces embedded in Kiev and opposition to the suppression of the Russian language and access to Russian media across the region, where the vast majority of the population speaks Russian.

When Yatsenyuk and other officials travelled to Donetsk yesterday, they did not meet with the protesters, but instead met with the eastern Ukrainian governors and mayors imposed by the regime, as well as major business figures, notably tycoon Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man. Those in the talks included the appointed regional governor, a billionaire metals tycoon, Sergey A. Taruta, whose offices remain occupied by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

Echoing the demands of the EU and IMF, Yatsenyuk laid out what he described as a recipe for national unity: “We must tell people that we know it’s tough, but we know how in the future to secure jobs, increase salaries, attract investors, distribute more authority, and what to do so people are content with life.”

The reality of the “tough” measures required by the IMF in return for a $27 billion loan is already being spelt out by a 120 percent hike in gas and heating prices, the cutting of social benefits, including free medical assistance, and the closure of several hospitals.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that there is also “an already lingering sense of injustice” over the inevitable requirements of the IMF for the closure of many of the region’s state-supported heavy industries. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, tens of thousands of jobs have already been destroyed in these industries, and wages have been driven down to near-starvation levels.

There is also popular alarm over the Kiev regime’s inclusion of several figures from the neo-Nazi Svoboda party and its reliance on the fascist Right Sector militia. Fascist thugs have been integrated into the regime’s new National Guard, contingents of which were deployed to eastern Ukraine to carry out the planned crackdown. Protesters in Donetsk carried placards saying, “We are afraid of fascism in Ukraine.”

The AP noted that the regime was being denounced as a “fascist junta,” adding that “references are often made to the legacy of Nazi collaboration among Ukrainian nationalists in the west during World War II.” The AP continued: “The name of the leading Ukrainian nationalist insurgent, Stepan Bandera, who aided Nazis invading the Soviet Union, is used as a curse word by opponents of the government in the capital, Kiev.”

According to local media reports, Ukraine’s elite Alpha unit refused to obey an order to besiege protester-held buildings in Donetsk. A commander reportedly told officials that his men were a force intended for rescuing hostages and fighting terrorism and would act only in accordance with the law. Similarly, in Kharkiv, a local police chief quit, saying he had been deceived by the Kiev authorities into besieging a building held by protesters and arresting dozens of occupants on the pretext that it was held by dangerous armed bandits.

Despite this evidence of a groundswell of popular resistance, Washington has ratcheted up its drumbeat of threats against Russia, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of stage-managing the protests and preparing to annex eastern Ukraine.

Claiming, without any substantiation, that there was “overwhelming evidence” of Moscow’s involvement, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland told a congressional panel on Wednesday that the building seizures in eastern Ukraine were “very carefully orchestrated, well-planned, well-targeted” moves. She warned of consequences if the “aggressive actions” went unchecked.

On Thursday, NATO’s supreme commander, General Philip Breedlove, published a set of commercial satellite photos purporting to show an estimated 40,000 Russian troops and long lines of tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and aircraft massed along Russia’s border with Ukraine. On his Twitter feed he wrote: “Russian forces around Ukraine fully equipped/capable to invade. Public denial undermines progress. Images tell story.”

However, an official on the Russian military general staff said Thursday that the images were taken in August 2013 and showed no unusual military movements.

While accusing Russia of mobilising its military, US-led NATO forces are continuing a buildup in the region. In the latest move, on Friday the USS Donald Cook, a destroyer equipped with Aegis missiles, entered the Black Sea, the home of a key Russian naval base. Within the next week, it will be joined by the French reconnaissance ship Dupuy de Lome and the destroyer Dupleix.

Far from having “carefully orchestrated” the protests in eastern Ukraine, the Putin government has responded to the upsurge by urging the demonstrators to drop demands for secession, while at the same time moving toward recognising the Kiev junta.

Yesterday, it was confirmed that four-way talks on the crisis between the US, EU, Russia and the Ukrainian regime will be held in Geneva on April 17. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov phoned US Secretary of State John Kerry to encourage the Kiev regime “to have a dialogue with representatives of the (Ukrainian) regions to create conditions allowing for comprehensive constitutional reform.”

Also yesterday, Putin said Russia would fulfil its obligations to European gas clients and had no plans to halt deliveries to Ukraine—a day after warning that supplies to Europe could be disrupted by Ukraine’s failure to pay its $2.2 billion debt for Russian gas.

Even so, the Obama administration continued its bellicose rhetoric, and Assistant Secretary Nuland played down, in advance, any prospect of ending the confrontation. “I have to say that we don’t have high expectations for these talks,” she stated.

Reflections on Ukraine and Regime Change

SPECIAL—FROM GLOBAL RESEARCH

By Michael Parenti / Global Research, April 07, 2014
Region: Russia and FSU / Theme: Media Disinformation

More than 83 percent of the qualified voters of Crimea recently participated in a referendum to rejoin Russia. And of that number well over 93 percent voted to separate themselves from Ukraine and once more become a part of Russia, in what was a massively one-sided victory .

What should be kept in mind is that Crimea would never have pursued such an action, and Russia would never had been receptive to such a course, were it not that Ukraine was in the grip of disruptive forces that were driving toward “regime change.”

“Regime change” is a form of action designed to make it impossible for the existing government to govern. We have seen this organized chaos and endless disruption in various other countries. Well organized groups are financed and equipped by outside western interests. Ultra-nationalists and mercenaries take hold of the protesting crowds and set the direction and pace of action, secure in the knowledge that they have the global reach of the western powers at their backs. The most retrogressive among them in Kiev launched slanderous attacks against Jews, Negroes, Chinese, Muscovites, and–of course–Communists.

The demonization of Putin and Russia has enlisted all American media assets (propaganda), so it's not surprising that CBS/PBS icon anchor Charlie Rose would also get involved pushing the same line. That's what corporate whores do.

Michael Parenti is an internationally known author. His most recent books include: The Face of Imperialism and Waiting for Yesterday (an ethnic memoir).

Eastern Ukrainian Resistance

By Stephen Lendman

Pro-Russian demonstrators occupy government buildings in Donetsk.

_Thousands of Eastern Ukrainians reject Kiev putschists. Perhaps millions. They want local sovereignty. They want autonomy rights. They want them respected. They reject fascist rule. They demand their own referendum. They want Ukraine federalized.

Protests continue in Kharkov (Ukraine’s second largest city), Donetsk (its largest industrial city), Dnepropetrovsk, Lugansk, Odessa, Nikolayev and elsewhere. They’re growing. They’re spreading. They have legs. Maybe parts of Western Ukraine will join them.

Ukrainians are long-suffering. They rejected Orange Revolution rule years earlier. Perhaps Orange Revolution 2.0 won’t fare better. It remains to be seen what happens going forward.

Will Eastern Ukrainian resistance spread? Will it do so nationwide? Will Ukrainians overwhelmingly reject fascist/predatory IMF rule? Will they demand equitable change? Will they protests en masse like before? Will they sustain it long enough to matter? Will they refuse what demands rejection?

Eastern Ukrainians reacted first. On April 7, RT International headlined “Pro-Russian protesters seize govt buildings in Ukraine’s Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov.” Included was Donetsk’s Security Service building. “The people’s militia seized Ukraine’s Security Service in 15 minutes, at 3:32 in the morning,” its members said.

THE SAME EVENT AS PRESENTED BY THE AMERICAN MEDIA (CBS This Morning, 4.9.14)
Pls. disregard the inevitable pollution (ads)

It’s blocked to protect against local security forces. On Sunday, thousands rallied in Eastern Ukrainian cities. They flooded streets. They waved Russian flags. They chanted “Russia! Russia!” They demanded local sovereignty. They called Kiev putschists an “illegal junta.” They demand Kiev appointed governor/oligarch Sergey Taruta “get out.” They burned a Nazi zealot’s effigy publicly.

They called doing so “an act of annihilation of fascism.” Clashes with police broke out. Protesters seized their riot shields. They entered the Security Service building. They replaced the Ukrainian flag with the Russian one.

According to activist Aleksandr Borodin:

“The situation is pretty tense. The demonstrators are occupying the city council building and are demanding that an independence referendum is held to determine the future of the region of Donetsk. The protesters are calling on officials to conduct a special session over the referendum situation…If it doesn’t take place, the demonstrators say they will organize an initiative group to settle the issue.”

They won’t “acknowledge the Kiev-appointed authorities and are also demanding freedom for the recently elected so-called ‘public governor.’ ”

On April 7, Itar Tass headlined “Legislature of just proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic asks Putin move in peacekeepers.”

They formed a Republican Council of the Donetsk’s People’s Republic. They adopted legislation saying:

“The territory of the republic within the recognized borders is indivisible and inviolable.”

They ruled on holding a referendum. They’ll do so no later than May 11. They’ll decide whether or not to join Russia. “On March 1,” said Itar Tass, “Russia’s Federation Council gave its consent to the president for using the armed forces on the territory of Ukraine.”

“The relevant decision was unanimously adopted by the upper house of Russian parliament at an extraordinary session. Earlier, Vladimir Putin submitted to the Federation Council an address on using the armed forces of Russia on the territory of Ukraine until the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country.”

“This initiative was proposed with regard to a plea by Ukraine’s legitimate president Viktor Yanukovych.” At issue is protecting the security of Russian-speaking nationals. It’s securing their rights. Lugansk events are unfolding like Donetsk’s, said RT. Around 1,000 people rallied outside the local Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) building. They demand protest leader Aleksandr Kharitonov’s release. He’s been lawlessly detained since mid-March.

So were 15 pro-Russian activists on Saturday. People carried Russian flags. They chanted “Shame on the SBU.” “Freedom to political prisoners.”

Clashes erupted. Injuries were reported. Kiev appointed governor released six anti-putschist activists. Violence erupted in Kharkov. Pro-Russian protesters clashed with Right Sector extremists. Police separated both sides. No injuries were reported.

Around 1,500 pro-Russian supporters occupied the putschist UNIAN news agency building.

According to RT:

“Pro-Russian rallies are taking place almost every weekend in major cities in the Russian-speaking part of Ukraine since the nationalist coup ousted Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, in late February.”

Things remain fluid. The struggle for Ukraine’s soul continues. RT highlighted Donetsk activists declaring a local republic. They want one independent from Kiev. They reject putschist rule. They want legal governance replacing it. They proclaimed their Regional Council the sole legitimate governing body. They did so pending a planned referendum. It’ll be held by May 11 or sooner. Ukrainian activism is spreading. So far in Eastern cities. Perhaps nationwide soon.

At the same time, Russia bashing continues relentlessly. So do US-led Western efforts to marginalize, isolate, weaken and contain Moscow. Political and military cooperation was suspended. Other options include positioning US-led NATO forces closer to Russia’s border. Provocative military exercises are planned. Challenging Moscow is madness. It’s happening in real time. It’s escalating dangerously. Doing so risks potential major conflict madness.

A previous article discussed Zero Hedge headlining “Petrodollar Alert: Putin Prepares to Announce ‘Holy Grail’ Gas Deal With China,” saying:

If Washington and EU partners intended greater Sino/Russian unity, “one (nation) a natural resource…superpower and the other a fixed capital/labor output…powerhouse, in the process marginalizing the dollar and encouraging Ruble and Renminbi bilateral trade, then things are surely ‘going according to plan.’ ”

Moscow/Beijing unity against Western imperialism is their best defense. Conditions head both nations more closely together against it. Russia is preparing a “Holy Grail” energy deal with China. Doing so will send “geopolitical shockwaves around the world,” said Zero Hedge. It’ll lay “groundwork for a new joint, commodity-backed reserve currency…” It’ll bypass dollar transactions. It’ll weaken petrodollar strength.

Moscow’s “Holy Grail” is a major natural gas deal with Beijing. Negotiations are close to complete. It involves supplying 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. It’ll do so via pipeline. It’s the first one between both nations. Putin plans visiting China in May. He’s expected to close the deal. The more Western nations pressure Russia, the closer it’s drawn to China. Bilateral ruble/renminbi trade weakens dollar strength. Perhaps other countries may follow in their own currencies. India and Iran are prime candidates. Perhaps Brazil and others will follow suit. Washington reacted as expected. According to Zero Hedge, it threatened Russia. It did so over a “petrodollar-busting deal.” It warned against “possible oil barter(ing)” transactions. It warned Iran against them. US-led Western sanctions are counterproductive. Perhaps Washington shot itself in the foot.

Russia has plenty of retaliatory ammunition. What better way than by weakening petrodollar strength. It’s a pillar of America’s geopolitical/military might. It furthers US supremacy. It does so at the expense of other nations. It finances America’s global military machine. It advances US imperialism. It furthers financial speculation.

It facilitates corporate takeovers. It does so at the expense of beneficial social change, human and civil rights. It prevents potential democratic change outbreaks. Global central banks recycle dollar inflows. They do so into US Treasuries. They finance America’s deficit. It matters with QE diminishing. Perhaps ending. Moscow/Beijing bilateral trade in their own currencies “is rapidly turning out into a terminal confirmation of (US) weakness,” said Zero Hedge.

“Russia seems perfectly happy to telegraph that it is just as willing to use barter (and perhaps gold) and shortly other ‘regional’ currencies, as it is to use the US Dollar,” it added.

It’s “hardly the intended outcome of the western blockade, which appears to have just backfired and further impacted the untouchable status of the Petrodollar. If Washington can’t stop this deal,” perhaps others will follow. Perhaps a groundswell among leading nations.

Petrodollar trading gives America major unfair advantages. According to Voice of Russia, “Moscow is ready to take (them) away.”

So is China. Imagine a combination petroruble/petrorenminbi weakening petrodollar strength. Imagine other petrocurrencies doing it further. Imagine petrodollar becoming a shadow of its former self. Imagine destructive US policies waning. Imagine a world safer to live in. Imagine a fairer one. Imagine what won’t happen easily or soon. Imagine what one day perhaps is possible. Top Russian officials support petrodollar weakening.

Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukaev urged Russian energy companies to ditch the dollar. “They must be braver in signing contracts in rubles and (partner country) currencies,” he said. Last month, VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said gas giant Gazprom, state-own oil company Rosneft, and exclusive defense-related weapons/ technologies/dual-use products/and services company Rosoboronexport “can start trading in rubles.”

They don’t mind switching, they said. They need a “mechanism” to do so. Russian upper house Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said no efforts will be spared to create one. Putin intends challenging Washington responsibly. Chinese leader Xi Jinping appears willing to join him. Together they’re a formidable combination.

Perhaps Moscow/Beijing commodity exchanges will exclude dollar transactions. Maybe they’ll replace them with ruble/renminbi ones. Rosneft signed large oil contracts with China. It’s close to major ones with Indian companies. They exclude dollar transactions. Russia heads toward trading goods for oil with Iran. If Rosneft deals in rubles, petrodollar strength will suffer. According to Zero Hedge, “US sanctions have opened a Pandora’s box of troubles for the American currency.” Russian retaliation promises unpleasant consequences.

What if other countries follow Russian and Chinese examples? What if avoiding dollar transactions catches on? What if long prevented US comeuppance happens? What if America met its match? What if it’s responsibly weakened? The sound you hear is overwhelming popular approval.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour