Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 29th. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has lasted for more than two months. The "burning" momentum of NATO countries led by the United States has not diminished. While continuing to transport weapons and provide military assistance to Ukraine, it is increasing sanctions and encirclement against Russia.
NATO's actions not only aggravate geopolitical confrontation, but also lay many hidden dangers for European regional development and world peace. In response to this, some former European politicians and scholars have expressed their reflections.
"This is adding fuel to the fire"
Former Serbian senior diplomat Zhivadin Yovanovic believes that NATO's eastward expansion is not only the main cause of the Ukrainian crisis, but also poses a threat to global peace and cooperation.
Yovanovic was formerly the Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Federal Yugoslavia) and is currently the chairman of the non-profit Belgrade Equality World Forum. He said he witnessed NATO's continuous expansion to the east since 1999 and now approaching the Russian border, leading to constant conflicts in Ukraine.
On March 24, 1999, NATO, led by the United States, bypassed the UN Security Council under the banner of "avoiding humanitarian disasters", and continued to bomb the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for 78 days, killing more than 2,000 innocent civilians, injuring more than 6,000 people and displaced nearly 1 million people.
On March 28, 1999, several citizens of the city of Leskovac, the Republic of Serbia, walked past a shop in the city center that was blown up by NATO. Photo by Huang Wen, Xinhua News Agency reporter
Vanovich said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency reporters that after the attack on Yugoslavia, NATO absorbed a large number of Eastern European countries, increasing the number of member states from 19 to 30, and getting closer to the Russian border, further intensifying geopolitical tensions.
He said that NATO's continuous eastward expansion has led to the militarization of the entire Europe, which has shaken the international order and endangered world peace. "Europe's military bases, weapons and military equipment have never been as many as it is today. The West continues to provide larger and advanced weapons (to Ukraine), which is adding fuel to the fire and increasing the possibility of conflict, not only local and regional conflicts, but also global conflicts."
"Europe is bearing a greater price"
Former Italian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Jerachi said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency reporters a few days ago that NATO's continuous expansion of eastward under the leadership of the United States is one of the root causes of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the cost of the conflict is mainly borne by Europe.
On April 7, US Secretary of State Blinken attended the NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zheng Huansong
" The motivation for the United States to quickly end this conflict does not exist because it is Europeans who are bearing a greater price. The EU is an ally of the United States, but our economic interests and even foreign policy are not completely consistent with the United States ." He said.
Jerrac pointed out that European energy prices have risen sharply since last year, and the EU's decision to impose energy sanctions on Russia after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has made this trend worse. Taking Italy as an example, rising energy prices will affect the advantages of some of the country's energy-dependent manufacturing industries and weaken the competitiveness of Italy's export trade in the global market.
The EU Council announced the fifth round of sanctions on Russia on the 8th of this month. The EU decided to stop purchasing, importing or transshipping coal and other solid fossil fuels produced in Russia or exported from Russia from August.
On April 1, some goods were out of stock on the shelves of a supermarket in Rome, Italy. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jin Ma Mengni
Due to the impact of multiple rounds of sanctions on Russia, many European economic indicators have deteriorated. Inflation in the euro zone has risen to 7.5% in March this year, a record high. Analysts pointed out that the EU's move is undoubtedly "killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of them."
"The Russian-Ukraine conflict may have severely hit the European economy, thus weakening Europe," said Jerachi.
"It will be useless to rely on sanctions"
Research director of the Eurasian Center of John von Neuman University in Hungary, pointed out that the Ukrainian issue should be resolved through negotiations. cannot achieve the expected goal of ending the Russian-Ukrainian conflict through sanctions, and will also bring impacts such as energy and food crisis to European countries such as Hungary and the world.
"It is useless to rely on sanctions, and negotiations are still necessary.Completely cutting off relations with Russia in diplomacy, economy and business is not a good solution. "Morditz said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency recently.
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In Moritz's view, it is not feasible to expect countries like Hungary that need a large amount of energy imports from Russia to stop importing in a short period of time. "We must understand that since the 1980s, Hungarian families have switched to natural gas to keep heating. "While we still use small amounts of wood and coal, we rely heavily on natural gas, and about 85% of Hungarian household heating requires natural gas from Russia. "
" Therefore, even with this intention, we cannot switch the entire system in one or two days. This is not only about political will, but also about technical and feasibility issues. ” He added.
In addition, Morditz said that sanctions against Russia may also lead to food crises in some parts of the world. Russia is one of the world's important food exporters. The sanctions will push up wheat and other grain prices and cause serious blows to low-income families, especially in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. (Reporters: Shi Zhongyu, He Fei, Chen Zhanjie, Chen Hao; Reporter: Nemania, Furti Otilo; Edit: Tan Ran; Editor: Ma Xiaoyan, Tang Zhiqiang, Wang Fengfeng)
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Source: Xinhua News Agency
