Expert: West failing to call Ukraine events genocide
Hundreds of murdered civilians in Ukrainian cities left by retreating Russian forces constitutes genocide that must not be rhetorically played down or normalized in news flow, security expert Meelis Oidsalu finds.
"The Estonian prime minister and foreign minister cannot bring themselves to use the word genocide. Social media reactions seem to be talking about a crime. A crime is when someone robs a florist by brandishing a knife. That is a crime. For some reason, we are belittling these events on the rhetorical level. But the images speak from themselves, and I don't have to convince anyone," Oidsalu said on "Terevisioon" concerning the Buca massacre in Ukraine.
He added that Estonia should take steps that go beyond Western unity.
"To be frank, we do not need the kind of unity that leads to the normalization of such images in news flow. We should take steps. Summoning the Russian ambassador, while I would also hear the German ambassador's stance, how they see the world."
Oidsalu added that Germany was responsible for Ukrainian deaths in the Holocaust and that German responsibility can be seen once more.
"On the one hand, it is futile to tread on sense of guilt. But we can see no action. We can see Silver Meikar, who looks like Jesus, going around healing the world, with citizens taking responsibility and NGOs fighting a world war against Putin. But states cannot bring themselves to voicing the truth. And the dissonance is growing."
Oidsalu added that while the NATO secretary general issued a press release over the weekend, it rather spoke of inhabiting a different information sphere.
"There could be more effort, also from our diplomats. We pat ourselves on the back, but this vibe… They have a very real need for hardware over there [Ukraine], while Germany goes ahead and destroys hundreds of IFVs that Ukraine asked for but was not given. Past good behavior will not help you if you get an F in school. And the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Government Office have gotten an F today. The result is horrible."
The expert also said that Russia will adopt a more military approach to the second phase of the war after it fell victim to misleading intelligence in the first.
"A look at the map today suggests war is waged using textbooks in the east. But if they [Russia] can implement the lessons, Putin might have something to celebrate by May 9. The question is how many civilians are we willing to let die before that happens," Oidsalu said.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski