Putin is helping the EU to unite on the external front

The relations between the EU and the US, on one side, and Russia, on the other side, have now reached a point that brings the world back three decades at least. There is a very serious level of tension between the two blocs. President Putin, who has some friends in Europe, never thought that the mistrust that has been growing in certain circles in the West would go as far as it went today, with the approval of a new set of financial sanctions against Russia´s economic interests in Europe. He misread the politics. Europe needs a glue. Putin is, in many ways, providing it. 

I appreciate John Kerry´s efforts

Copyright V.Angelo

Israel should be reminded of some basic principles of international law

Hamas is certainly an extremist group included in the Western list of terrorist organizations. It needs to be fought and its actions ought to be stopped.

But fighting Hamas is not an excuse for Israel to behave as a State that does not respect the laws of the war, the principle of proportionate force, and the overriding rules about the protection of civilians and the interdiction to inflict collective punishment on innocent populations.

These norms should guide the actions of any civilised State, even when that State is exercising the right of self-defence. In all legislations, self-defence has its limits and needs to be advised by a great sense of restraint. That´s what the modern world is about. 

Little minds

There are so many new headlines from Gaza to Ukraine, from the planes that crash here and there, and then the Summer recess, that we just forget that the Nigerian school girls have not yet been freed, after several months in the hands of Boko Haram, and the Central African Republic is still the murderous chaos it was a few weeks back. And that the elections in Afghanistan are yet to be sorted out, long after the polling day. Not to mention Iraq, Libya, South Sudan, and so on...

War crimes are being committed

When the law of the war is not respect – and one should be reminded all the time that wars have their own body of international law that ought to be followed – war crimes are committed. And when they are committed the key leaders of the international community have to speak the words and say the right things. Leadership is about that. To call a spade a spade.  

In Turkey, the time for arresting senior police officers has arrived

Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey is back on the offensive against his country´s institutions. This evening we are told that more than a hundred senior police officers have been arrested on very doubtful charges, including phone tapping.

The true reason is that Erdogan is a revengeful man. He cannot forget, and certainly not forgive, that these police officers have dared to investigate corruption matters within the leading circles of government, including possible ill actions carried out by the Prime Minister himself and his own family.

They will pay for doing their job.

As the top military officers have paid for being an objective and solid institution.

This is not the kind of leadership that can take the issue of EU membership forward. 

EU and Russia: sanctions and cooperation, the two sides of the coin

I have just finished my opinion piece of this week for Visão, a well-read general news magazine that is published every Thursday in Lisbon. This time the theme had to be about the relations between the EU and Russia, in the aftermath of the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines plane.

My points are that we have to combine much tougher and better targetted economic sanctions against key Russian enterprises, including Rosneft, making sure they cannot access the European financial markets, with a continuous invitation for political dialogue between Europe and Russia. In the end, both blocs need each other. Russia, sooner or later, will require EU capital, technology and markets to develop its Far East. And Europe has a lot to gain by participating in the economic development of its big neighbour.

However the long term view cannot ignore the realities of today. And the key message here is that Russia has to fully implement the Helsinki Act of 1975 about peace and cooperation in Europe and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. 

In Hindsight: Sanctions : July 2014 Monthly Forecast : Security Council Report

In Hindsight: Sanctions : July 2014 Monthly Forecast : Security Council Report

Politics and real life: two different worlds

On the day David Cameron announced the last Cabinet reshuffle I found myself wondering on the platform of Paddington Station, in London, watching the crowds coming out of the trains and rushing out of the building, all very focused on another day of work or any other business, and then I asked myself what is the relationship between politics and real life. I was unable to come up with a good answer. 

Putin´s plane

It is too early to fully grasp the possible impact of yesterday´s criminal action against the civilian airplane that killed so many innocent people. But it sounds very much as a turning point in the aggravation of the relations between the West and Russia.

The shooting down of the plane has shocked many people across the world. It makes it much easier to mobilise public opinion against the Russian leadership. I am sure that Vladimir Putin feels today under much greater pressure than before.

Such pressure might help to understand that the time has come for him to convince his men in Eastern Ukraine to change tactics and to envisage an end to the armed insurrection. If that could be the outcome of the tragedy than we would be better prepared to accept yesterday´s tragedy. But even then, we have to make sure that those who shot down the aircraft are brought to justice. These things cannot go unpunished. A credible international board of inquiry is a must.