🏰 The new security system in Europe will be based on mutual hostility.

But this will be a variant of hostility that precludes provocative behaviour. Such behaviour is possible only in a situation where no one believes that the other side will attack you. After the outbreak of hostilities on February 24, there is no such belief among the NATO countries anymore.

👉 On the one hand, this will entail an increase in the military spending of European states and a change in the geography of the forward deployment of NATO forces and assets. They will be closer to Russia's borders.

👉 But, on the other hand, there will be an increased responsibility for the use of these forces and means. Any incident will provoke a crisis that does not correspond to the vital interests of European states.

The result of the system of checks and balances will be a "cold peace" - the best possible option for today, writes Andrey Sushentsov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

🔗 Towards a 'Cold Peace' in Europe

#ModernDiplomacy #coldpeace #NATO #Europe #Ukraine

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🇪🇺🇺🇦🇷🇺 The EU-Russia relations have returned to hostility and, accordingly, all ties that are not really of fundamental importance for the EU countries are being curtailed.

However, so far this is only a reaction to the fact that Russia’s behaviour may deprive a united Europe of a very important potential source of resources for development — Russia itself, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.

🔗 War of European Integration

#Asia_and_Eurasia #Europe

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🇨🇿❌🇷🇺 The Czech Republic has been used as a “laboratory” of the de-Russification project.

We are, therefore, witnesses of a paradoxical situation when the instigation to hatred against the Russians, calling for a coup in Russia or repression against the Czech “dissent” are tolerated, whereas statements regarding Russia's self-defence or the existence of the US biological laboratories in Ukraine might be criminalised.

The social atmosphere has become irrational and paranoid. The political elites have used the upheaval to the final crackdown against Russian influence, de-Russification of the economy, education, research, and other spheres of life, and finally sever the ties with the “archenemy”.

The experiences of the last weeks show that the Czech liberal democratic elites have opted for a specific kind of “liberal authoritarianism” and resistance to pioneers of a new era of international relations – China, Russia, and other countries of the “Rest”.

Whereas the Czech Republic has chosen the withering past, Russia has chosen the future, writes Ladislav Zemanek, Analyst of the China-CEE Institute, established by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Budapest.

🔗 De-Russification and 'Liberal Authoritarianism': The Czech Choice

#Russophobia #Europe #CzechRepublic

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🏰 Europe’s main problem is its lack of even elementary self-sufficiency in terms of resources.

That is why for Europeans, territorial expansion is an even more inevitable foreign policy choice than for other advanced industrial powers like the United States or China, or industrially-lagging Russia and India.

Therefore, the acquisition by the Europeans of new military capabilities will almost inevitably lead to an increase in their aggressiveness, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.

🔗 Europe and the Atomic Bomb

#Asia_and_Eurasia #Europe #Germany

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club