This week saw two significant events occur which have both an indirect and a direct bearing on Putin's war with Ukraine.
First there was the release of what has come to be known as The Panama Papers. From Beijing to Riyadh to Moscow to London to Reykjavic to New York; the wealthy of the world have not been sleeping easy since the lair where they squirrelled away their money, in the hope that their financial secrets would be far from the prying eyes of everyone else, has been made public internationally.
This has also led Putin's Kremlin mouthpiece, Dmitry Peskov (left), to invent a new psychological condition called "Putinphobia". As Shivdeep Dhaliwal so succinctly puts it,
"The Kremlin has of course seized the moment to offer vehement denials, including using the word “Putinphobia”.
Dmitry Peskov, the President’s spokesman said, “It’s clear that the level of Putinphobia has reached a level at which it is impossible to speak well of Russia, and it’s required to speak ill of Russia”.(The Cointelegraph : 2016-04-06) (my emphasis)
The second event is the outcome of the Dutch referendum that ostensibly was about the Dutch ratification of Ukraine's Trade Agreement with the EU, but rather was about more broader issues, specifically about the EU itself.
As
"What did these voters mean, and does their vote represent a clear
repudiation of the European project – as was quickly claimed by both the
anti-EU campaigner Geert Wilders and the Brexit campaigner Nigel
Farage?" (The Guardian : Friday 8 April 2016) (my emphasis) (left: Farage and Wilders)
Looking at the initial instigators of this Dutch referendum we discover a rather strange and motley crew.
"The organisers of the Dutch referendum were highly controversial. The referendum was the initiative of GeenStijl (“No Style”), an immensely successful blog whose outlook and methods are a mix of Charlie Hebdo, Jackass and Gawker.
It was joined by a prominent young philosopher called Thierry Baudet, who recently published a book exploring “female masturbation, sexual emancipation, and the crisis of masculinity in modern times”.
This motley crew of attention-seekers campaigned alongside the far left Socialist party – currently polling better than the Social Democrats. And of course with Wilders, who is currently under investigation for incitement after asking a crowd of supporters whether they “wanted more or fewer Moroccans” (ibid
"The Nato-Russia Council will convene in the next two weeks to discuss
the peace process in eastern Ukraine, as well as the situation in
Afghanistan.
But Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (left) warned that it was not a "return to business as usual".
Nato announced last month that an extra armoured brigade would be deployed in eastern Europe, meaning a total of three will be there on a continuous basis. (BBC : 8 April 2016) (my emphasis)
But let me leave you with these facts:
(to be continued)
First there was the release of what has come to be known as The Panama Papers. From Beijing to Riyadh to Moscow to London to Reykjavic to New York; the wealthy of the world have not been sleeping easy since the lair where they squirrelled away their money, in the hope that their financial secrets would be far from the prying eyes of everyone else, has been made public internationally.
This has also led Putin's Kremlin mouthpiece, Dmitry Peskov (left), to invent a new psychological condition called "Putinphobia". As Shivdeep Dhaliwal so succinctly puts it,
"The Kremlin has of course seized the moment to offer vehement denials, including using the word “Putinphobia”.Dmitry Peskov, the President’s spokesman said, “It’s clear that the level of Putinphobia has reached a level at which it is impossible to speak well of Russia, and it’s required to speak ill of Russia”.(The Cointelegraph : 2016-04-06) (my emphasis)
But the facts speak for themselves.
The second event is the outcome of the Dutch referendum that ostensibly was about the Dutch ratification of Ukraine's Trade Agreement with the EU, but rather was about more broader issues, specifically about the EU itself.
As
"What did these voters mean, and does their vote represent a clear
repudiation of the European project – as was quickly claimed by both the
anti-EU campaigner Geert Wilders and the Brexit campaigner Nigel
Farage?" (The Guardian : Friday 8 April 2016) (my emphasis) (left: Farage and Wilders)Looking at the initial instigators of this Dutch referendum we discover a rather strange and motley crew.
"The organisers of the Dutch referendum were highly controversial. The referendum was the initiative of GeenStijl (“No Style”), an immensely successful blog whose outlook and methods are a mix of Charlie Hebdo, Jackass and Gawker.
It was joined by a prominent young philosopher called Thierry Baudet, who recently published a book exploring “female masturbation, sexual emancipation, and the crisis of masculinity in modern times”.
This motley crew of attention-seekers campaigned alongside the far left Socialist party – currently polling better than the Social Democrats. And of course with Wilders, who is currently under investigation for incitement after asking a crowd of supporters whether they “wanted more or fewer Moroccans” (ibid
Putin may be rubbing his hands with glee at the 'No' vote in this referendum but, as the old saying goes, "He Who Laughs Last, Laughs the Best'.
The sting in the tail for Putin is the fact that 'corruption' in Ukraine now has to be truly rooted out, and the Ukrainian public must be able to see that this is being done.
Added to which,
"The Nato-Russia Council will convene in the next two weeks to discuss
the peace process in eastern Ukraine, as well as the situation in
Afghanistan.But Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (left) warned that it was not a "return to business as usual".
Nato announced last month that an extra armoured brigade would be deployed in eastern Europe, meaning a total of three will be there on a continuous basis. (BBC : 8 April 2016) (my emphasis)
But let me leave you with these facts:
No comments:
Post a Comment