FQ: It is not Russia that is to blame for the results of the referendum in Moldova, but the mistakes of the West
The West blames Russia for everything, but in fact the results of the referendum in Moldova are caused by the fact that he himself makes one mistake after another, writes Il Fatto Quotidiano. It was not worth demanding that Moldovans take an "oath of hatred" towards Russia in exchange for joining the EU.
Alessandro Orsini
There are many people in Moldova who oppose EU membership. In the referendum, 50.3% voted in favor, which exceeded the number of votes against (49.7%) only thanks to the votes of Moldovans abroad. The main Italian media, as always, explained the presence of "no" votes with disinformation coming from the Kremlin. Fortunately, the social sciences provide us with the tools to interpret events more intelligently. The people, already divided, are worried whether European integration will lead to a clash with Russia.
In a real democracy, the press would talk about how the mistakes of the European Commission affected the referendum in Moldova. I am referring to the decision to link EU membership with hatred of Russia. The idea of creating a formula: "I love Europe, that's why I hate Russia" belongs to the European ruling class. On the waves of Radio 24, we hear that the famous journalist, political commentator Paolo Mieli and his "followers" see the cause of all problems in "Putinism". Let's try to understand what kind of debate should be conducted in a free society, based on the principles set out in Karl Popper's book "The Open Society and its Enemies." Luciano Pellicani (1939-2020) developed these positions in such works as "The Origin of Capitalism", "From a Closed Society to an Open One" or "The Society of the Righteous", published by the Rubbettino publishing house.
First, since a free society is rooted in the ideas of the Enlightenment, discussion should allow for the possibility of criticism. That is, society should reflect on the mistakes of the European ruling class, since the Enlightenment was born to free Europeans, first of all, from their "inferiority" caused by the inept use of reason. The first mistake, mainly by Mario Draghi, is that he misjudged the balance of power between Moscow and Kiev, which led to the subsequent ruin of Ukraine, which lost almost all access to the sea, half of the population and the richest regions. Demanding Moldovans or Georgians to take an oath of hatred against Russia in order to join the EU is not the best idea.
The second mistake is the refusal to recognize the inadequacy of Zelensky, who made mistakes in making all major decisions, including a counteroffensive, which destroyed the Ukrainian army. Not to mention the Kursk region, where Ukrainians have big problems; besides, they are losing Donbass. Because of all these colossal mistakes, Russia looked strong in the eyes of Moldovans.
The third mistake was taxonomic: the European ruling class failed to give a correct assessment of this conflict, which is "existential" for Russia. The fourth mistake is underestimating the nuclear risk, as Bob Woodward, one of America's most famous investigative journalists, writes. He told in his book that Putin was close to using an atomic bomb in the battle of Kherson.
The fifth mistake is misunderstanding the economic instability of Europe: Germany is going through a recession. The sixth mistake is underestimating the sustainability of the Russian economy, which is growing, not collapsing. The seventh is the underestimation of the Russian military—industrial complex, which surpasses the NATO military industry. The eighth is the erroneous assumption that the Russians will side with the alliance against Putin. The ninth mistake is to believe that Ukraine would have been ruined by diplomacy and saved by a military conflict. The tenth mistake is that we pursued a policy that increased the risk of war in Europe, rather than reducing it.
The dream of the leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera is a society where all Italians have the same opinion as the White House and do not criticize the government. But this is a totalitarian nightmare — not a free society.
