Vladimir Putin - born October 7, 1952
Editorial
Vladimir Putin Clings to the Past
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Published: November 19, 2013 76 Comments
The former republics of the Soviet Union have been sovereign, independent countries for almost 22 years, free to develop economic and political relations with any foreign nation or trading bloc they choose. That point appears to have eluded President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who is doing everything he can to prevent these countries from developing closer ties with Europe — even threatening to cut off the gas that one country needs to get through the winter.
“The Cold War should be over for everyone,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said this week. Not, it appears, for Mr. Putin.
Next week, six former republics — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,
Moldova and Ukraine — are scheduled to meet with leaders of the
European Union in Vilnius, Lithuania, to discuss enhanced economic,
political and diplomatic ties with the union. In 2004, Lithuania, along
with Estonia and Latvia, became the first former Soviet republics to
join the union.
To qualify for stronger ties, the six nations will have to demonstrate
progress on democratic and judicial reforms required by the European
Union. That may prove difficult for some, like Ukraine, which has, so
far, refused to allow its imprisoned former prime minister, Yulia
Tymoshenko, to travel to Germany for medical treatment.
Europe’s use of trade leverage to encourage democracy is constructive
and reasonable. Russia’s attempts to bludgeon former vassals into
continued economic dependence are not. The European Union offers
something real and attractive. Russia, which wants them to join the
customs union it has formed with Belarus and Kazakhstan, offers threats.
In September, a Russian deputy prime minister warned Moldova that it
might lose access to gas this winter should it strengthen links with
Europe. Then it banned imports of Moldovan wine. Next came threats to
expel tens of thousands of Moldovans working in Russia. Yet, far from
backing down, Moldovan leaders have continued negotiations with Europe
and are now working to reduce the country’s economic dependence on
Russia.
Moscow’s bullying has had more success in Armenia, which counts on
Russian support in its territorial dispute with Azerbaijan, and has
agreed to join the customs union. Even Lithuania, already a member of
the union, has been subjected to trade harassment, presumably in
retaliation for hosting next week’s Vilnius meeting.
Similarly, Russia has threatened to slow Ukrainian imports with exacting
customs inspections, although the main obstacles to stronger Ukrainian
ties with the union involve domestic politics. In any case, Ukraine,
which is economically robust, is perfectly entitled to choose its own
course, as are the other former Soviet republics.
In the waning years of the Soviet Union, its last president, Mikhail
Gorbachev, talked optimistically about a post-Cold War Europe stretching
undivided from the Atlantic to the Urals. Mr. Putin, however, seems to
long for a return to the days when an iron curtain divided the
Continent, darkening the horizons of the satellites and Soviet republics
to the east — nations that now seek the enjoy more fully the fruits of
independence.
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