Putin humiliated by China after Beijing urges Moscow to drop Ukraine war plans

 Beijing's Foreign Minister said that Ukraine had the right to safeguard its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. 

John Varga   Daily Express

20 February 2022

The Russian President has amassed close to 200,000 troops on Ukraine's northern, eastern and southern flanks, according to US officials. Defence analysts working for the Atlantic Council organisation warned that the Kremlin had completed preparations for a large-scale offensive operation.

They said that Russian forces could "likely execute a further invasion of Ukraine with less than twelve hours of unambiguous warning."

With an invasion looking increasingly imminent, China's top diplomat used his appearance at the Munich security conference on Saturday to warn Mr Putin against following through on his expansionist ambitions.

Wang Yi affirmed Ukraine's right to safeguard its territorial integrity and urged a diplomatic solution to the escalating crisis.

He called the Minsk Agreement the "only way out" and urged all parties to come together and solve the crisis peacefully.

Mr Yi also said that Ukraine should not be a frontline for competition among major powers.

The Minsk Agreement refers to a diplomatic accord signed in February 2015 in the Belarus capital by representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the leaders of two pro-Russian separatist regions.

© Getty Vladimir Putin

© Getty Vladimir Putin

The deal set out a series of military and political steps that remain unimplemented.

A major blockage has been Russia's insistence that it is not a party to the conflict and therefore is not bound by its terms.

Moscow also wants the breakaway regions to have autonomy over economic and foreign policy - something Kyiv would find very hard to countenance.

Wang Yi's slap-down of Mr Putin comes as a major surprise, given that China's President Xi Jinping appeared to back Mr Putin's Ukraine policy.

The two leaders met in Beijing at the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

READ MORE: Putin mocked as Russian missile test ridiculed for 'missing' target

© Getty China

© Getty Ukraine Conflict

They issued a joint statement calling on the West to "abandon the ideologised approaches of the cold war".

In a nod to Russian interests in Ukraine, China said it understood and supported "the proposals put forward by the Russian Federation on the formation of long-term legally binding security guarantees in Europe."

Volodymr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's President, attended the Munich security conference today, where he met with Boris Johnson.

The Prime Minister reiterated the UK's "unequivocal support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity", a Downing Street spokesperson said.

They added: "The prime minister told Zelenskiy that the UK continues to cooperate closely with international partners to make clear that any Russia incursion will be met with strength, including significant economic consequences.

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© Getty Vladimir Putin

"The leaders agreed that any further Russian incursion into Ukraine would be a profound miscalculation which would be met with fierce resistance from Ukraine.

"They agreed there was still time for Putin to choose the path of peace and diplomacy."

Western leaders continued to issue last minute appeals to the Russian President to pull back from the brink of war.

Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, said it was unacceptable that Europe was facing a war over an issue that was not even an agenda - namely Ukraine's membership of NATO.

He said: "It will not happen the next time. It will not happen in the near time. Putin knows that."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/vladimir-putin-humiliated-by-china-after-beijing-urges-moscow-to-drop-ukraine-war-plans/ar-AAU4cr8

EU Budget Problems Highlight New Divisions

The recent EU Council meeting in Brussels has yet again highlighted the gap in the European Union left by ...

March 16, 2020
written by Robert Tyler

The recent EU Council meeting in Brussels has yet again highlighted the gap in the European Union left by the departure of the United Kingdom. In fact, it has highlighted two – the first being a fiscal gap that needs to be plugged and the second being a political hole.

The United Kingdom acted as the voice of reason within the European Council. Its strict and sensible approach when it came to the budget – paired with its pragmatic approach to spending on areas in which the EU can do good – meant that the budget usually reflected the broad needs of the European Union.

Smaller countries would often rally behind the UK as a means of getting what they wanted. For example, more fiscally conservative countries such as Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands were happy to support proposals to limit budgetary growth. Countries such as Ireland and Poland were equally happy with the UK’s position when it came to agricultural subsidies.

Of course, the greatest contribution of the United Kingdom during its time in the European Union was its financial contribution. The UK as an EU member, even after considering the rebate, was the second largest net contributor to the EU budget. In many ways by acting as a harmonious bridge within the Union, the United Kingdom sealed its own fate when it came to leave.

One of the greatest criticisms levelled against continued British membership of the European Union was that the size of the financial contribution made by the UK was completely out of proportion – especially while the UK was undergoing its own internal process of austerity. Many, on both the left and the right of the political spectrum, saw the fact that the UK sent so much money to Brussels while restricting domestic expenditure as outrageous.

While working class people in the north of England were losing their jobs and watching their schools and hospitals being shut, the EU was spending money on frivolous cultural projects in remote regions of Europe. This is, of course, all an exaggeration – the reality is that it’s the same local governments that were shutting schools that would have applied for the EU grant to begin with – however it made an easy narrative to win a referendum on.

The same arguments are now starting to play out in other countries across the European Union who have, since Brexit, found themselves footing more of the bill. The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden – the so called ‘Frugal Four’ – have coalesced around the need to shrink the EU budget, or at the very least improve its efficiency. A coalition of countries that continue to favour free trade, economic freedom and favour a more broadly sound classical liberal approach to finance.

On the other side of the continent are the Visegrad 4 countries – Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia – who have used the budget to try and push for an assurance that so called ‘cohesion funding’ continues – money that is used to try and raise all member states to a similar level of economic development.

All of this isn’t to say that the EU won’t reach a fair conclusion on the budget – but it does show the difficulties that have emerged as Europe becomes more and more divided, both politically and the renewal of geographic self-interest. When asked whether the Netherlands was the new UK, Prime Minister Mark Rutter responded “No – we are the Netherlands”. But the point still stands, someone will have to plug the fiscal conservative gap in the same way that someone will have to plug the financial gap.

BUDGET

ROBERT TYLER

Robert is a political strategist based in Brussels, supporting the conservative movement. He has a Master’s Degree in Security and Intelligence Studies, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Modern History and Politics.

https://conservatives.global/eu-budget-problems-highlight-new-divisions/

Farage: 'You patronising stuck up snob!'

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•9 Oct 2019

The Sun

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Boris Johnson was labelled a "traitor" by Guy Verhofstadt THREE times today - for trying to take Britain out of the EU. The sneering Brussels boss tore into the PM and his Brexit plans today in the European Parliament, with just 22 days to go before we leave the EU... Continue reading: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/brexit/...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSOUsfl_CVA

FEDERAL EU BLUEPRINT: Brussels SIX-POINT plot to turn Europe into a SUPERSTATE unveiled

A FEDERALIST blueprint to turn Europe into a superstate with its own government, army and paramilitary police force has been unveiled by a top Brussels politician.

By NICK GUTTERIDGE

PUBLISHED: 11:05, Tue, Aug 30, 2016 | UPDATED: 12:23, Tue, Aug 30, 2016

The sinister plot involves sidelining individual countries by removing them from the decision-making process and banning member states from opting out of unpopular policies like the Schengen zone and the Euro. 

It comes as federalists in Brussels look to take advantage of Brexit to force home their long-cherished dream of a United States of Europe, in which the continent’s distinct and unique countries will cease to exist.

Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the liberals in the European parliament, has launched the six point plan which he hopes to start implementing within six months.

Under his proposal individual member states would be scrapped and Europe would move towards a republican form of governance based on the system used in the United States.

Verhofstadt, a former Prime Minister of Belgium, is reviving controversial proposals for an EU President which were shelved when plans for a European Constitution were abandoned amid a mass outcry in 2004. 

He also calls for radical reform of the European Commission, which makes Brussels law, to turn it into a “small European government” made up of 12 ministers. 

GETTY

A six-point plan has been unveiled for a European superstate

GETTY

Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt has called for a US-style Brussels government

Currently the Commission is composed of 28 bureaucrats from each of the member states who are supposed to represent the interests of their governments on the unelected body. 

And Verhofstadt says the new government should be handed the powers currently exercised by the European Council, which is made up of the elected heads of national governments, and which he describes as “the place where plans go to die”.

The proposals are likely to cause fury across the EU as they would effectively neutralise member states’ influence on decision making, taking away their veto and leaving all the power in the hands of Brussels bureaucrats and MEPs. 

Elsewhere in his superstate blueprint the arch-federalist calls for the creation of a European FBI which would have the power to launch police operations in any member state, operating above and beyond the local authorities. 

And he calls once again for the creation of an EU border force and coastguard to take over control of policing the continent’s frontiers from national governments. 

He says: “We should not be naive. We need to protect ourselves against those who abuse our freedom, that threaten our European society, our way of life.”

To that end Verhofstadt reiterates controversial calls for a European Army which have already been repeatedly made by his boss, Brussels chief Jean-Claude Juncker, and are believed to be favoured by German leader Angela Merkel. 

The liberal MEP claims that the creation of a Brussels force is the “only way” to defeat Islamic State (ISIS) and convince NATO allies including the US that Europeans are playing their part on the global stage. 

GETTY

Under the proposal the EU would have a centralised treasury, army and police force

GETTY

Germany is also pushing calls for an EU Army

And he accuses “populists” like former UKIP leader Nigel Farage of “lying” to people when they say that bringing back border controls would help in the fight against Islamist terror. 

He says: “Populists try to make us believe that by closing our borders we will be safe. They are lying. The only way to protect Europe is to build a strong and united defence. 

“Only a European army with a unity in command will increase our capacity to defend ourselves. Only then will we be capable to defeat ISIS, only then can we stand up to Putin again and only then will we possess a credible alternative for the Americans.”

Finally Verhofstadt suggests using Britain’s exit from the EU as a catalyst to speed up complete political union and end the rights countries currently enjoy to opt out of unpopular Brussels policies. 

His proposal is likely to cause alarm in a number of countries, including Sweden and Denmark which are not in the Euro and Ireland which is not part of the Schengen free movement zone. 

The veteran MEP says Brussels should end the current system of opt-ins and opt-outs which has created a “Europe a la carte” and blames Britain for being a bulwark against federalisation. 

And he compares the current situation to an America where California had its own currency or where Florida refused to participate in the FBI, describing the EU as “not a real union”.

Instead, member states should be given an ultimatum to either accept all the terms the Brussels club lays down or leave and become an “associate member” with access only to the single market. 

He says: “The Brexit offers an ideal moment to put an end to this. 

“Britain has always been the champion of this Europe a la carte. It doesn’t participate in the Euro, Schengen, and in a lot of other policies and on top of that it benefitted from a huge rebate in the budget.

“As Britain has now decided to leave the union it is time to get rid of this bureaucratic and complex system.” 

Guy Verhofstadt’s six-point plan for an EU superstate: 

1. Create an EU Government and President

2. Set up a Brussels FBI

3. Create a European Army

4. Set up a central Brussels Treasury

5. Complete the single market for digital services

6. End opt-outs for Schengen and the Euro

http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/705229/European-Union-Brussels-EU-superstate-unveiled-MEP-Guy-Verhofstadt