Today #Ukraine journalist Vitaly Portnikov commented on #Putinās statement about āEuropean pigletsā (yes, read onā¦). Portnikov hits the nail on the head:
Putin is obsessed with torpedoing the European project. Understand this: a united Europe is a thorn in the side of every Russian imperialist. Every imperialist, including Putin and Trump (although he has different motives), will tell you that it is easier for him to deal with many separate countries, even large ones, than with a single bloc with a population larger than the whole of Russia. And with an economy comparable to that of the United States, and certainly larger than Russiaās. And as long as European countries are together, it is much more difficult to provoke them into fighting each other.
And here is the most important thing:
I have repeatedly pointed out that the essence of the European project is not simply prosperity ā although that is also nice ā but that European countries do not fight each other and their citizens do not kill each other. Eighty years ago, our continent was in ruins, Europeans were fighting each other and hated each other, they were ready to bomb their own cities. Today, we see the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Prime Minister of Italy discussing fundamental issues together and travelling to Washington together.
Let us recall the history of Europe at the beginning of the 20th century ā how much hatred there was between the Germans and the French, the Germans and the British, the British and the French, how much contempt there was for the Italians, who were not even considered human beings in this European concert. Where was Poland, which today is one of the worldās leading economies, but at the beginning of the century had its territory divided between three empires? This is unimaginable progress, the success of which was difficult to even dream of 100 years ago! And the small countries? They couldnāt believe they still existed at all.
And again about Putin:
And that is precisely why such a union of equal states drives Putin crazy and irritates Trump, who of course would like to negotiate with each country separately ā hence his support for Brexit. And both Trump and Putin want the same thing for the whole of Europe, albeit for different reasons ā Trump wants greater economic leverage, and Putin wants to rebuild Russiaās sphere of influence in Europe so that they fear him.
Full interview: (in Russian, subtitles available)
