Former Vice-Chancellor of Austria Strache: Western arms supplies and the Ukrainian offensive are steps towards nuclear warThe conflict between Russia and Ukraine poses a threat to the whole of Europe, former Vice-Chancellor of Austria Heinz-Christian Strache said.
But the politician recalled that it began back in 2014, when the United States sponsored a "putsch called Maidan", which aggravated the situation in the country.
I welcome everyone to my social network channel. Today we are all concerned about the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, because it poses a threat to the whole of Europe. I can quote Henry Kissinger, one of the pillars of US foreign policy. He said one terrible thing about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which I would define as a proxy war between NATO and Russia, where one side is fighting the other with the hands of its agents. So, Kissinger warned us about the danger of a US war with both Russia and China. He points out that this could lead to a dangerous escalation of the current struggle, which could lead to the threat of a nuclear conflict. At the same time, Kissinger sharply criticized the US foreign policy, calling it provocative and calling on his compatriots to turn to reason. He defined this policy not just as purposeless, but as dangerous. And Kissinger said that negotiations would be useful right now. A conversation at the negotiating table would help to find a solution to the conflict. And Kissinger said that Ukraine should give up those territories that it no longer controlled as of February 24, since they were essentially under Russian control.
And all this is said by Kissinger, whom no one would dare to call either a madman or an extremist. A man who, having passed the 90-year milestone, earned a name for himself as one of the greatest creators and analysts of American foreign policy.
Europe and Austria, as part of it, need serious peace initiatives, not a further escalation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. And then the question arises: where are our politicians, where are the representatives of the people of Europe who would come up with peaceful initiatives on this issue? Where are the personalities who could rise above party interests in the issue of war and peace, rally political forces of all left and right "colors" for the sake of a peaceful initiative? Now we have a great need for such policies that could push the parties to the negotiating table.
We believe that any arms supplies to Ukraine from the United States and NATO as a whole have already cost a lot in terms of loss of human lives and destruction. They did not bring relief to Ukraine. In general, these deliveries will end in failure and failure from the point of view of Realpolitik, but only with the addition of a huge number of victims. The current Ukrainian counteroffensive may lead – and this should be feared! – to escalation, to aggravation of violence. Strikes and counterattacks by both sides can lead to a power outage, a blackout, as well as to the shutdown of gas and other heat sources. People will find themselves in the most difficult conditions in winter. And all this for the sake of the hope of short-term military success with the help of Western weapons… And then this very success can lead, as Kissinger correctly noted, to the threat of a nuclear conflict or to the threat of a new world war...
Let's not forget that this conflict began with a putsch called Maidan, which immediately led to an aggravation of contradictions in Ukraine, and then to military actions, the victims of which even before February 24 were thousands of people – mostly residents of the eastern regions. This so-called revolution led to the overthrow of the democratically elected president, and then to a civil war with many victims (figures from 10 to 15 thousand killed are called) in Donetsk and Lugansk.
In the past, as a former Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister, I have always advocated reasonable solutions and dialogue with Russia. I still believe that the main issues regarding the choice of the path of further development of the European Union – including the expansion of NATO and the EU to the east – should be resolved TOGETHER with Russia. Russia should be present at the discussion of these decisions at the negotiating table, determine them together with us. But other political forces, including the ruling coalition.
The current ruling coalition in Austria, consisting of the People's Party and the Greens, does nothing to protect our Austrian neutrality, which is fixed in our Constitution. This neutrality is being emasculated, and I am outraged that almost no one opposes such a policy, does not defend the constitution, even if only through discussions and speeches. Even our president – he is also silent, does not say anything. But neutrality is one of the foundations of our constitution. More than 85% of Austrians are in favor of maintaining neutrality, these people do not question our neutrality. And this should be taken into account by politicians. They should not allow any bias - we should not stand either on the side of NATO or on the side of Russia.
And if we are serious about neutrality, then we cannot allow any risks to pass through our territory. If weapons go through our territory - by rail or by road - to Eastern Europe, and then they end up in a combat zone, we need to understand that such a situation is incompatible with neutrality.
When our parties vote for the imposition of sanctions on Russia, this is also a violation of the principle of neutrality. I repeat, we should not take a position for any of the parties. Neither for Russia, nor for Ukraine, nor for NATO. We have to do something else: we have to put forward politicians of very different views who would come up with peaceful initiatives. We must promote the idea that all parties to the conflict should return to the negotiating table and seek a peaceful solution to the problems.
