Not 'Putinism' but simply 'fascism'

Peter Leonard informs us that,

  "Ukraine's president [Poroshenko (left)] said at a high-level

   summit with European Union officials Monday that his

   country will be able to meet conditions to apply for EU

   membership within five years." (AP: Yahoo News: 28 

   April, 2015) (my emphasis)

  Poroshenko's statement indicates not only the determination  of Ukraine to completely break with its Soviet past but, more importantly, its determination to completely overhaul its political and economic structures to conform to the stringent requirements of EU membership.

It is precisely these stringent EU political and economic requirements that is angering Putin, since it will throw into sharp relief the corrupt nature of Russian state and business investments in Ukraine since Ukraine became an independent nation after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

AP (US News) reports that,

"Russian investigators have opened a new corruption case against subcontractors building a space center where workers have gone unpaid for months and have appealed directly to President Vladimir Putin for help.....

.......

The Interior Ministry on Wednesday said its investigators had uncovered embezzlement of 50.5 million rubles (nearly $1 million) by one of the subcontractors, in addition to embezzlement by a separate contractor uncovered earlier." (AP (US News) : April 22, 2015) (my emphasis)

Even more disconcerting,

  "Prosecutors have called for ex-businesswoman Yevgeniya

  Vasilyeva (left) to be given a suspended sentence for her part

  in fraud schemes that  cost the state 3 billion rubles ($59

  million) after earlier demanding  an eight-year prison

  sentence, a news  report said." (Moscow Times : Apr.  24

   2015) (my emphasis)

This is but the tip of an iceberg of corruption in Russia, and it is a practice of corruption that Russia has exported to Ukraine since it became independent on 24 August 1991, until Euro-Maidan in 2014, and which Poroshenko is now tackling in Ukraine head-on.

As Armine Sahakyan (right) has reported,

" Russia has long exported the mentality that corruption is not only fine but is the way of doing things. Transparency International recently gave Russia a corruption rating of 136 out of the 177 countries it follows—placing Russia at the top 25 percent of countries that are the most corrupt." (Diplomatic Courier : Mar 30, 2015) (my emphasis)

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine that changing national legislation to prepare for the [EU-Ukraine trade] agreement would trigger "an immediate response from Moscow." (Rikard Jozwiak ) (my emphasis)

To which, quite rightly, Poroshenko has stated that,

  " ..... Russia is not a party to the Association

    Agreement and has no right to interfere."(ibid

  Rikard Jozwiak) (my emphasis)

  With this in mind, is it any wonder

   that  Putin and his kleptocratic

  'clan' are more than worried now that Ukrainian Prime Minister, Arsenii Yatseniuk (right), has categoricaly stated that,

"There is no doubt that effective Jan. 1, 2016 the agreement on free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU will commence work." (Censor.net : 27.04.15)

Ukraine will therefore have to institute all the necessary EU rules and regulations governing its trade with both EU and non-EU countries. 

Russian corruption simply cannot conform to the rules and regulations that Ukraine will have to adopt once it fully implements its free trade Association Agreement with the EU.

  This throws into rather sharp relief just why the

  "Putinversteher" Walter Steinmeier (left),

 

  "...called for a resumption of three-way talks between

  the EU, Ukraine, and Russia in order to identify

  "practical solutions"(ibid Rikard Jozwiak) to the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which has correctly been rejected by Poroshenko.

The potential loss of trade between Ukraine and Russia will, for Ukraine, be more than offset by its trade with the EU that the Association Agreement will set in motion. 

Putin's Russia, however, will have to find new trade outlets to compensate for its loss of trade with Ukraine. This will have to be done by Putin against a backdrop of Russia experiencing ever growing economic problems.

As Stratfor Global Intelligence explains,

"With Russia entering its second recession in six years, the country's economic and financial hardships are starting to weigh on the Russian people and regional governments. In times of severe economic crisis, such as those in 1905 and 1998, the Russian populace and regional authorities traditionally react against federal authority, fragmenting the country. Those in power in Moscow understand this and are taking measures to ensure that they counter and prevent any social or regional backlash and dissent." (Stratfor Global Intelligence : April 3, 2015)

Stratfor Global Intelligence reveals the following:

• massive capital flight of $160 billion in 2014 and an estimated $80 billion in 2015, a volatile ruble ...... and a likely federal budget deficit of approximately $45 billion in 2015
• The Russian people are starting to feel the pain. In March, inflation skyrocketed from just under 7 percent the previous month to nearly 17 percent
• Another area of dissatisfaction among the Russian people is the closure of medical facilities in some regions, such as Moscow, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok
• Sporadic minor protests have also taken place across Russia during the past month. Communist Party members in Stavropol got in coffins to protest their regional government's low pension payouts. In Novosibirsk, farmers dumped manure in front of state-run Sberbank with signs saying, "Bankers are enemies of the people," and, "Down with credit slavery."
• The Kremlin is concerned that the worsening economic situation could force some of the regional leaders to break with some of the federal government's strategies, such as how to handle protests, or how to allocate funds or pay taxes

  Levada released a poll on March 31 that indicated 45

  percent of Russians think the crackdowns that Soviet

  leader Josef  Stalin conducted during economic 

  hardships were justified — a sharp rise from just 25

  percent in 2013

Alexander J. Motyl  (right) writes that,

"A growing number of Russian analysts, in Russia and abroad, have taken to calling Vladimir Putin's regime "fascist." And they don't use the term casually or as a form of opprobrium. They mean that Putin's Russia genuinely resembles Mussolini's Italy or Hitler's Germany." (Atlantic Council : April 23, 201) (my emphasis)

Without being framed within the Soviet ideology that governed Stalin's crackdowns, Putin's ideological 'frame' within which his 'crackdowns' are framed 'mirrors' the ideological frame of the actions of Hitler and Mussolini.

(to be continued)

Putin's 'appeasers' at the 17th EU-Ukraine summit in Kiev (27 April,2015)

As today's 17th EU-Ukraine summit of EU leaders takes place in Kiev, EUbusiness informs us that,

" Ukraine pressed European leaders Monday to send peacekeepers to stabilise the war-torn east, as monitors reported a surge in shelling near [Mariupol,] a strategic government-held city...
 .........
Observers with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) near the flashpoint town of Shyrokyne said they had witnessed "the most intense shelling" since fighting began there in mid-February, as well as movement of heavy weapons." (EUbusiness : 27 April 2015, 14:12 CET)

By simply trampling all over the Minsk2 'ceasefire' agreement, Putin is pulling out all the stops of 'intimidation' that he has at his disposal in his attempt to directly influence the outcome of this critical meeting between EU leaders and the President of Ukraine, Poroshenko.

"Many Ukrainians fear Mariupol could face a new offensive by separatists after commemorations of Russia's victory in World War II on May 9 are out of the way, or come under attack during public holidays in early May." (ibid EUbusiness) (my emphasis)

 For weeks now there have been ample warnings that have been given by many different sources about Putin's build-up of Russian soldiers and lethal military equipment in eastern Ukraine for his imminent onslaught against the strategic city of Mariupol. And so it has begun. 

Yet notwithstanding this blatant "in-you-face" disregard of the Minsk2 'ceasefire' agreement by Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers, there are those at the 17th EU-Ukraine summit now taking place in Kiev,

"Germany and key European partners are pressing Ukraine to speed up implementing the Minsk ceasefire agreement — for fear of giving Russia excuses for renewed aggression." (Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk : Financial Times : April 26, 2015)

Furthermore that,
 
"The word among German diplomats is that Kiev needs to be “more co-operative”. Stefan Meister (right), of Berlin’s DGAP foreign policy think-tank, said: “German officials are talking to both sides, but especially to the Ukrainians because if they don’t do what’s necessary, the Russians will always have the possibility of renewing the conflict............

But Berlin is worried that Kiev is dragging its feet over other parts of the fragile deal, notably in trying to postpone political decentralisation until after local elections are staged in separatist-held territory.  ” (ibid Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk) (my emphasis)

In other words, Germany wants Putin to be 'appeased' by Ukraine handing over power to Putin's rebel proxies in eastern Ukraine. (ibid Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk)

However,

"For Ukraine this is critical because it does not want to hand over power to separatist leaders in the Donbas region, who are not recognised by the international community. EU diplomats say, however, that while local elections are indeed envisaged under Minsk, the accord does not insist that they take place before decentralisation." (ibid ibid Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk) (my emphasis)

And while EU leaders are trying to 'strongarm' Poroshenko into 'appeasing' Putin by giving him 'exactly what he wants',

"US troops in Europe request bigger guns amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine ....

One of the last American combat units stationed in Europe is asking the government for bigger guns amid rising tensions over Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict." (FoxNews :April 26, 2015) (my emphasis)
 
FoxNews further reported that,
 
"NATO's chief on Thursday reported a sizeable Russian military buildup on the border with Ukraine that he said would enable pro-Moscow separatists to launch a new offensive with little warning."(ibid FoxNews) (my emphasis)

And this is precisely what is happening right now, while the EU leaders are meeting with Poroshenko in Kiev.

 Wolfgang Münchau (left) points to a rather interesting comparison which, more than anything else, indicates exactly the extent to which many of the leaders in the EU, who are supportive of (scared of?) Putin are, in fact, openly appeasing him.

"Ukraine will need more financial assistance from the EU — not only loans, but also grants because even a debt restructure will not get this war-torn country back on track. So far, the EU has dispensed €1.6bn in what it calls macro-financial assistance, and €250m in grants for fiscal stabilisation [to Ukraine]........
.............
By comparison, the total of the two Greek programmes has been €195bn so far — about 100 times as much [as received by Ukraine from the EU]. Greece is, of course, a member of the EU and the eurozone, but this is gap is still disproportionate. Of the two, Ukraine is the bigger country — in terms of population, land mass, and economic output." (Financial Times : April 26, 2015) (my emphasis)
 
Wolfgang Münchau also states that,

"Anders Aslund (right) of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington makes the point in a book that Ukraine would be a candidate for a Marshall Plan type package, of the kind Germany and other west European countries received after the second world war.

Ukraine has geostrategic importance to the EU, as Germany did to the US after 1945. And Ukraine has a government willing to undertake reforms." (my emphasis)

It would seem, however, that both Angela Merkel and Walter Steinmeiser have conveniently forgotten just how much Marshall Aid was poured into Germany after WWII and that has led to the Germany that we know today.

Instead, "The word among German diplomats is that Kiev needs to be “more co-operative”.

Alexander J. Motyl  (left) writes that,

"A growing number of Russian analysts, in Russia and abroad, have taken to calling Vladimir Putin's regime "fascist." And they don't use the term casually or as a form of opprobrium. They mean that Putin's Russia genuinely resembles Mussolini's Italy or Hitler's Germany." (Atlantic Council : April 23, 201) (my emphasis)

He goes on to argue that,

"But many Westerners fear the implications of calling a spade a spade.

If Putin's Russia is fascist, then it is comparable to Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy and, thus, certifiably evil. 

And that means that calls for understanding Putin amount to calls for understanding evil.

So it's better to pretend that Russia isn't fascist. Hence the popularity of abstruse designations like managed democracy and sovereign democracy or terms—such as Putinism—that only state the obvious. ...." (ibid Alexander Motyl) (my emphasis)

Some of Putin's supporters (appeasers?) in the EU

(Italy)'fragrant' Mogherini        (Italy) Renzi                 (Greece) Tsipras          (Germany) Steinmeiser

(to be continued)