All aboard the Lisbon to Vladivostok train, no stops in Kiev or Warsaw
April 21, 2015 - Pavel Shipillin
http://fortruss.blogspot.pt/2015/04/all ... train.html
[Translated from Russian by Dvajdsitdva]
In recent days the German Chancellor Angela Merkel again allowed herself to talk about a common geopolitical and economic European space, including Russia. In my opinion this statement could be regarded as a feat, considering all the pressure that Washington has been exerting on Germany.
"In the future we see a major economic trading zone, which includes Russia.” - said Frau Merkel on April 17th at an economic forum in Stralsund. And taking a deep breath, boldly added, "We progress step by step, and move closer to a common economic space, and just like Vladimir Putin once said, it will be 'from Vladivostok to Lisbon.' "
Angela Merkel of course mentioned Putin, hated in the USA, for a reason. Yet despite of that, the Chancellor made it clear that Germany will try to defend its sovereignty. After all, only Americans share the view that the Russian President is the devil incarnate. The steps towards an economic Euro-Asian trade zone seem logical and consistent for the Europeans.
Having said that, Washington's goal for the Europeans is not a big family secret.
At an accelerated pace, the plans are to complete the construction of a "Hate Belt," that includes various Russophobic States from the Baltic all the way to the Black sea, states that would hinder the development and strengthening of economic relations between Russia and the European Union. In fact, there are only two ways left through which you can deliver and trade goods: across land through Belarus and then through Poland, or by sea through St. Petersburg. At this moment and time, no sane businessman would attempt to deliver and trade goods via Ukraine.
Angela Merkel stressed that the problems between Russia and Germany need to be solved through political discussions. Unlike Barack Obama's attitude towards us, this approach is quite peaceful and constructive.
The Europeans are also finally beginning to realize, what kind of pill has been prepared for them by the Americans, in the form of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). On Saturday tens of thousands Europeans took part in protests against the signing of the agreement on free trade between the US and the EU.
The larger protests were in Spain, where apparently people are better informed about the incoming time bomb, that the Americans put in fine print of the agreement. Twenty thousand people hit the streets of Madrid and Barcelona. In Berlin, fifteen hundred people formed a human chain, stretching from the Potsdamer Platz to The Brandenburg gate. In Munich, the same event brought together three thousand activists. Residents of Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt also protested against the TTIP.
The essence of the TTIP is the strengthening of the U.S. economic influence in the EU. Meanwhile, cooperation with Russia should be kept to a bare minimum, until Russia finishes supplying the EU with comfortable and trouble-free supply of gas, which the EU still needs. The United States intends to eventually replace Russia, as the main energy provider, albeit at higher prices.
This is why the construction of the "South Stream" pipeline was torpedoed, because the route was designed to circumvent the new Russophobic powers in Ukraine. United
States has flagged the company Gazprom, stubbornly pushing it into transporting gas through Ukrainian pipeline system, which they themselves control. And we, in turn, are still trying to sell energy to Europe, now through Turkey and the "weak links" of the EU - Greece, Serbia, And Hungary.
A geopolitical game between the superpowers has become the main, and only cause of the Maidan. This same game has plunged the former brotherly country into an economic abyss, a crises which the Ukraine cannot get out of. The Ukrainians are standing shoulder to shoulder in between Russia and Europe, and are completely confident that they must sacrifice themselves so that in far away America the standard of living, god forbid, does not decrease.
Not only does the United States intend to extract gas from Ukraine and transport it across the ocean, but also to extract shale deposits in Poland and in the Ukraine, along the way destroying the native ecologies in these countries. In addition, the still wealthy European market has been buying produce overseas, and that should help the distressed American economy in staying afloat. Thus, the purpose of TTIP is to save the US at the expense of the local European population.
Of course, for this the Europeans must abandon their dangerous goals and thoughts of trading in the East via Russia and China. And I would have to say, that first in line is China, and then only us. The "Hate Belt" is primarily created so that China would sit quietly at the edge of the world and not contemplate about a New Silk Road - an overland corridor through Kazakhstan and Russia, through which goods can be delivered to the expensive markets in Europe. [Which everyone is after. This is a key geopolitical idea, superpowers interfering with each other's plans to keep important and profitable markets in their own hands and not their competitors - tr.]
Following the same thread, the sea route through which China trades with the West and receives energy supplies from the Persian Gulf, is securely controlled by the U.S. Navy. The narrow aquatic necks of Hormuz, the Malacca Straits, and the Suez canal can be easily closed or embargoed. China is trying to counter American influence in the sea in the Indian Ocean. Yet it is clearly not enough, and the U.S. will keep an eye out for strengthening of its main geopolitical rival, China, in the region. And it seems, will not allow that at all costs.
The more valuable the revelations of European politicians, who are well versed in the order of geopolitical challenges of the day, and are aware of the real role prepared for the ‘Old World.’ Increasingly, they begin to show their neat porcelain teeth to their transatlantic partners. But it seems that the European Union has not yet said its last word to the USA on the TTIP. And that word is "NO".