Baltic States Russia’s Next Target after Georgia and Ukraine, Says Russian Analyst
The fact that the European Union “swallowed” Russia’s aggression against Georgia led to the events in Ukraine, and once the EU bows to Russia, the Baltic states will be the next target, Russian political analyst at the Hudson Institute and organizer of a Maidan solidarity committee Andrey Piontkovsky said.
The West is unable to stop Russia, who is bent on polarizing Ukraine and taking over the Crimea, because the foreign policy of US President Barack Obama is as spineless as that of the EU, Piontkovsky said in an interview with the Lithuanian news website lrt.lt, uudised.err.ee reported today.
According to Piontkovsky, if Russian President Vladimir Putin's does not give up his ambitions a crushing defeat in Ukraine and elsewhere for him will have repercussions on political processes within Russia in the long term.
EU today lacks outstanding leaders and sound policies to counter Putin’s geopolitical expansion and the problem is similar to Munich in 1938 - the western leaders fail to grasp the nature of the regime and keep appeasing a dictator, he said.
The EU reacted with only words to the Russian aggression in Georgia and the fact that the EU stomached Russia’s actions in Georgia led to the events in Ukraine, he said.
If the EU gives its blessing to “two-party mediation” in Ukraine, as the former French President Nicholas Sarkozy “gave his blessing” to Putin’s actions in Georgia, the next target will be the Baltic States. If the EU has backed down twice, it can back down three times, Piontkovsky said.