Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 14:55
Landsbergis: Russia is Blowing Up Europe
BRUSSELS (EUX.TV) -- Vytautys Landsbergis was President of Lithuania in 1991, when he helped fight off a bloody attempt by the Soviet Union's army to overthrow his country's government. He now is a member of the European Parliament for the conservative EPP-ED group.
Russia's actions against Georgia "suggest the beginning of the pre-planned decline of the European Union," he argues in this commentary, in which he compares Russia's action now to the Soviet occupation of Lithuania of 1940. "The Kremlin is free to tell lies every day."
Here follows the text of a commentary that Landsbergis distributed at the European Parliament on Wednesday:
The gloomiest premonitions are short to become true. Europe divided, and unfortunately toadying is at last giving into Russian aggression. This was manifested by EU leaders' inefficiency even to state that a power having crossed the frontiers and raved within a souvereign country's community, nor the immobilized United Nations, dared to demand that invaders' armed forces as well as the supreme commander in chief in the Kremlin responsible for the ongoing violence and plunder get out immediately. Calls to stop crimes bring about nothing, neither does ineffective parlance on Russia's 'inadequate means'.
One seems as if expected to perceive - were the Russian bombers targeting fewer bombs on homes, exploding fewer bridges, had they sunk only two offshore patrol boats, not three, were they to have killed not two pressmen in Gori - only one instead, perhaps, those means would look acceptable.
The German proposals to stabilize the situation under the Russian occupation were just similar. To those unaware about the importance of the wording, Moscow has imposed to continue with the misconcepted usage of 'peace keepers' for invaders and, besides, an empty, time-wasting dissension on the future of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, whilst both Georgia's and Europe's future remain at stake.
The only credibility test for EU and NATO today is to request Russia's armed forces to be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. Preventing it, Russia simply denounced any full withdrawal. Shut up your mouths, Europeans. Is that language addressed to Mr Sarkozy?
Whoever does not demand unconditional withdrawal, not 'stepping back' - actually justifies the incursion as well as the sea blockade, plundering, rape, total destruction of communications and economy infrastructure, if Georgians are not, at least, pushed to guerilla warfare in their souvereign land. Russia succeeded in 'balkanizing' South Ossetia - village against village, so, the destruction may now go deeper into Georgia. The new Georgian site, the town Akhalgori, is already occuped by 'independent Ossetians.' The mockery goes on.
Appeasing European leaders imperceptibly are becoming accomplices in total wrongdoing.
Russia in its line happily discloses itself as a medieval state-conqueror, to whom do belong all the goods taken from those defeated. "Our trophies." This is a quotation.
We have seen it all in Lithuania - the outright Soviet cynicism, ideological demagoguery, accompanying the violence of the military and chekist atrocities.
They began by accusing Lithuania to be the aggressor in 1940; the occupation was followed by the Red Terror, and they, by the use of specially re-dressed assault troopers, applying total warfare to peasants thrown out of their homes and land, well until the 12 March 1990.
This is being done currently in Georgia, while terrorists brought in from North Caucasus are also allowed to demonstrate how impotent the Tblisi government is, as it has agreed even not to undertake responsibility of protecting its own people. Europe de facto approves of free hands on this 'solution' and the fixed agreement. You don't resist, agreed Mr. Sarkozy. We'll not protect you either, only by statements. Let the Georgians retreat to the places of their dislocation. As to Russia's units' whereabouts or whenever they were to leave, it was left to be guessed. The Kremlin is free to tell lies every day. The Georgians will be requested, the Russians only suggested to. In response, they are already dictating the winners' conditions.
Hypocricy has been admitted: as if the bandits who followed the invaders' forces did not belong to the Russian units. Just so it was to be presented to us in 1991; portraying USSR interior OMON gangs as 'local forces' assigned to protect the local Poles from the Lithuanians. A bit later the whole so-called Baltic regional military structure (Russian, of course) was declared "local public force" which was provided to take part in determining the future "status" of the three Baltic States! President Boris Yeltsin behaved honestly, so the threatening GRU bubbles proved to be empty in the end.
Prior to it, we saw in Lithuania the night of 13 January 1991, which might be descending in Georgia presently. I can well remember the horrible sensation; we were butchered, looted, exposed to anything on their minds while the whole world stayed silent. It was only Boris Yeltsin who responded, as I later found out, by sternly warning Mr Gorbachev. But Gorbachev was by then already hostage of the crime perpetrated with his consent. And as the bloody morning drew closer, the West's protests were already heard.
The Soviet generals, however, were off the edge being prevented from "completing the job". It seems that around Tblisi things are alike. The Russians are mocking President Sarkozy and State Secretary Rice by distancing a little bit when they are in the city, and coming back nearer after the guests leave.
Georgia does not see the dawn, and Europe allows it to be so.
This might suggest the beginning of the pre-planned decline of the European Union and cataclysm of that ancient civilization. Speaking frankly, morally Europe already capitulated way back in Chechnya. Any simplified, primitive and artificial justification for that punishing Chechen genocide, the second after Stalin's one in 1944, was accepted. Now the berries are ripe.
-- Via the EUX.TV newsroom news@eux.tv
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=JDQ3a0aNSqE
http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=20381