Because
because it is Munich. The memory of Chamberlain's, as it turned out, insignificant piece of paper from
Munich of 1938, which remained in the memory of generations who survived the Second World War, as a symbol of the
war, as a symbol of an unsuccessful attempt to appease Hitler, was inevitable.
The speech of
by US Vice President James Vance was a proclamation of a new American
isolationism and nationalism. If there were any unknowns about the direction and rationale of the second administration's
and the rationale for the second Trump administration's policies, they were certainly
erased in front of a packed audience at the traditional Security Conference in
the Bavarian city, which was receptive to the aggressive, caustic and cynical messages
of the forty-year-old Ohio Republican with striking coldness and gloom. Deeply
ideological, in a manner that has become recognizable both in style and content
of the media platforms of the neoconservative and populist right, Vance's presentation is a
a kind of indictment of the shaken Euro-Atlantic alliance.
The United
The United States as we have known it is the largest and most important democracy in the world (despite
all its mistakes, failures, and missteps in history) is no longer the one we
we have known until recently, or, more precisely, that we have taken for granted.
Vice President Vance
without reservation, expressing full conviction in what he was saying,
issued a series of accusations and harsh assessments. His messages - although in some passages they went much lower
passages, they went far below the minimum of decency in public communication
regarding allied countries, were crystal clear.
When it comes to Vance's conviction and
and persuasiveness of Vance, even the greatest optimists and well-wishers do not
not helped by the fact that this same man in 2016 called then-candidate
trump an idiot "whose actions are reprehensible," and privately called him "the new
"the new Hitler." We are now in a new reality, and Vance
is at the top of a long list of new American officials and politicians for whom
personal loyalty to Trump is the most important characteristic
Hopes,
that the new anomaly will last only four years - as long as Trump is in the White House - is at best
house is naive at best. It would be nice if such expectations
were to be realized. History, however, has its own logic and dynamics, and it will not
sit idly by and wait for the supposed end of Trump's term.
That's why
vance's speech will remain in textbooks as the end of an era. Unity forged in the first and second global conflicts
the first and second global conflicts, strengthened during the Cold War,
is coming to an end with the de facto abandonment of Europe as a principled ally of the United States.
Europeans face great challenges. French President Macron immediately realized this
immediately realized this and urgently convened a meeting of the leaders of the leading European countries
American strategy without a strategy?
To
the impression of a break with the Euro-Atlantic paradigm was truly complete and very
and very disturbing, Trump's new Defense Secretary Pete Hagel, one of the faces of
of the populist Fox TV channel, whose press conference on the occasion of the
of NATO defense ministers, also exuded a forced self-assurance. Ghegseth
in fact, had no clear and definitive answers to the question of possible/future
negotiations to end the war, i.e. peace in Ukraine. This is not surprising either. Everything
boils down to Trump's and his cabinet's
and his cabinet's unquestioning, boundless trust in the negotiating abilities of the
78-year-old American president.
"Everything is on the table" and "The President is the main negotiator
the answers had to satisfy the journalists present, not only Ukrainian, but also
ukrainian journalists, but also Hagseth's colleagues from allied countries. Trump's chief negotiator
has already spoken with Vladimir Putin. Later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy jokingly told the audience
later jokingly told the audience in Munich. Irony and humor are also part of the
the defense arsenal of brave Ukrainians
The main
problem - apart from the stunning (even for Trump) rhetoric about the upcoming
meetings and negotiations, which "in passing" mentions possible territorial
"agreements" that would formalize Russia's occupation of eastern Ukraine and
Crimea - was eventually confirmed by the Assistant to the President and Special Representative for
Keith Kellogg, Assistant to the President and Special Representative for Russia and Ukraine
"EU representatives will not participate in the talks
This was a wake-up call for the entire EU. Marginalization,
that's what it is. Alienation of Europe is the essence of Trump's new diplomacy. This leads to
to negotiations dominated by commercial considerations. Europeans are not needed here
europeans are not needed here, it is Putin who needs to be negotiated with, and something needs to be sold or given to Zelenskyy for his signature.
To this end, at a bilateral meeting in Munich, the Ukrainian president was
presented to the Ukrainian president at a bilateral meeting in Munich with a document stipulating that huge amounts of Ukraine's mineral
wealth of Ukraine will be provided to the United States as compensation for military assistance since the
Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to sign the text,
which he had not read. This episode is deeply compromising for the United States -
first of all because of the attempt, but also because it failed to
to hide it from the international community. In the end, Ukraine will be ready to
to compensate for at least part of the cost of weapons, ammunition and technology received
from the West,if peace means
the return of sovereignty over the occupied territories. It is also possible to have some kind of
long-term international supervision, as well as the creation of a demilitarized zone,
but recognition of Russia's conquests is excluded. V. Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian leadership
simply cannot accept this
That is why
kyiv's recognition of Russia's territorial conquests is out of the question. This
"detail" reveals the inconsistency of the American position. Or, to put it better,
an improvisation that cannot be hidden. Trump and his services, many of which are
are being destructively "reformed" or simply eliminated by Elon Musk, which already
"smells" of an inglorious end, are under serious Russian influence. And if you
we consider this aspect, Vance's speech in Munich becomes even more important.
A new European policy?
Europeans
are faced with a historic question. The departure of the United States - both in the ideological and
and direct sense, as well as Washington's clear intentions to marginalize the EU and exclude it from political and
from political and defense agreements is the biggest problem. To what extent this is
insurmountable, we will find out very soon.
Right-wing populism and nationalism have weakened the EU and threatened it
EU and have become a threat to it from within. Russia's harmful influence cannot be ruled out.
The first political clash in this senseoccurs in Germany. The party "Alternative for Germany" (AfD), which, according to
according to Vice President Vance, has become a kind of address for both meeting and
for mentioning in his Munich speech, is a real threat to German
democracy. The list of European countries where right-wing nationalists and populists are gaining popularity and influence
right-wing nationalists and populists are gaining popularity and influence.
Miodrag
VLAHOVICH
First Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro (2004-06),
former Ambassador of Montenegro to the United States, Canada, Iceland and Rome
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