«Europe underestimated Russia», said EU officials

In 2008 Putin warned about the risks of intervention in Ukraine due to Russian interests into the country. But nobody paid it attention

by Emanuele Bonini

Europe underestimated Russia, and now it's too late to react in order to find a solution to what is going on in Ukraine. Furthermore, the European Union should have more courage imposing economic sanctions against Vladimir Putin's country. Inside the EU institution there's who is sure more could have been done, but was not. “The current policy of sanctions doesn't work”, said EU officials speaking off-the record. “Asset freezing and visa ban don't produce effects. Isolation is the only possibility we have to resolve the crisis”. While the twenty eight member states reflect about the possibility to challenge Moscow, the European Union shows divisions right inside. Put Russia in the condition to be alone at international level should be the European political line, according to EU officials in Brussels.

Together with the choices considered as wrong, Europe is responsable for not have take into account Russian early warnings. In April 2008, during the Nato summit held in Romania, Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke about Ukraine as an artificial country put together from bits of other countries. «Ukraine, in the form it currently exists, was created in the Soviet times», said Putin six years ago. Ukraine received its territories from Poland – after the Second World war, from Czechoslovakia, from Romania – and, then, it received huge territories from Russia in the east and south of the country. Why to remember what Putin said in 2008? First of all because it was the EU officials who reminded it. Secondly, because the same EU officials underlined that during his speech Russian president said something nobody was worried about. «We do not have any right to veto, and, probably, we do not pretend to have. But I want that all of us, when deciding such issues, realize that we have there our interests as well». That's what Putin said in Bucharest six years ago. «We underestimated Russia», EU officials admitted. «And today we are having an amazing lessons from Ukraine».