On Thursday, the Saeima was addressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who stressed that "we must restore full respect for the fundamental values on our continent. We must fight absolutely clearly and at all levels for the principle: every nation matters".
On the same day, people gathered in front of the Saeima to picket for the civil union law, carrying the rainbow flag of the LGBT+ community. They also stressed that they were defending European values and fighting for principles. Let us not split hairs about what are and are not "European" values, because by these values we all mean a certain way of life, culture and human relations.
Why did I put Zelensky's speech and the LGBT+ picket together? Because they are both united by the European values I have already mentioned. Namely, freedom of opinion, diversity and the possibility to express them. We can talk endlessly about which values are better, more modern, more sustainable, and so on, but it is not so easy to determine what the real price of these "values" is. War helps to determine this price in a rather cruel way.
The war in Ukraine is in full swing at the moment, and it is also, in a sense, a war of values, because Russia's behavior in Ukraine is in no way in line with European standards. Russia has openly turned its back on civilized European values and is undisguisedly displaying the behavior of uncivilized savages, even at a diplomatic level, let alone in the way it lives and acts in the conquered territories. At one time, a somewhat racist slogan was common, renaming Russia after an African country and attaching the words "with an atomic bomb" to it. Today, almost any African country is closer to European standards, European values, than Russia.
Difficult as it may be to admit it, the moment of truth has arrived when Europe must prove the superiority of its civilization over the primitive order of the jungle. Fortunately, this does not even require hard work. It does not come at the price of blood. Ukrainians have paid and are willing to continue to pay with blood. They are asking for very little from Europe. The weapons it has and tolerance of relatively minor inconveniences due to rising energy prices.
Is Europe prepared to pay even this small price for its "values"? I am not saying that it is not prepared, but so far, looking at some European leaders, it does not look that way. Europe's leaders of the past and its guarantors of values - Germany, France, Italy - are quite openly trying to avoid any decisive action, opting for the ostrich strategy - head in the sand. Let us hope that things will somehow calm down of their own accord. It is already quite clear that part of the "old" Europe has lost its leadership. It can no longer be a leading star in 21st century Europe. It is obvious that it can no longer be relied upon.
Here is how Dmitry Bykov, one of the greatest contemporary Russian writers, describes the situation: "Already the West is giving in [to Putin]. They are giving arms to Ukraine at a snail's pace. There are voices in Europe saying that we should negotiate. Let's take the 20% of occupied Ukrainian territory as a basis for negotiations. Let us start negotiations, let us stop hostilities, let us drag it out as long as we can, and [the conflict] will gradually subside, dry up, and in the meantime either the mullah [Nasreddin Hodja] will die, or the shah will die, or the donkey will die. Something will happen.
This position is understandable. It always masquerades behind the slogan of minimizing bloodshed. If there is negotiation, there will be less blood. Ukraine will calm down, Russia's appetite will subside. But it is obvious that it was precisely this position that led to the continuation of the war in 2014. The war did not stop during these eight years. It just took on a softer, more acceptable face. A squeezed spring let loose hits harder. Okay, you will compress it again. You'll give away one piece, then another, then another...
Let's call a spade a spade. For people, the idea of fighting evil is less attractive than the idea of living with evil. People are different, after all, will you kill them all because of that, you have to give them a chance to live, you have to give Putin a chance to save face. But if you always help the dragon save face, he will not only save face, but also legitimacy, the nuclear button, the possibility of annoying you and, above all, he will not baby you. He doesn't like to be soft on any Lancelots (the person ready to confront the dragon in Evgeny Schwartz's play "The Dragon"), but are you really Lancelot, with hand over heart?
All this talk about a post-modern world where there can be no struggle against evil, the idea of reconciliation, it is pure impotence. It is absolutely clear and demonstrable. When Putin and his buddies talk about the impotent West, they are of course using their own back-alley standards, but, generally speaking, they are not so wrong...
It is a popular idea in the West that evil can be negotiated with. If evil could somehow be fed so that it lost its appetite forever, then yes, but the problem is that evil cannot stop. It is quite clear that Russia will not stop at 20% of Ukraine. The slogan of evil is not simply - we can repeat it. The slogan of evil is - we can increase it [evil]. We can make it more painful, we can make it more atrocious. If Russia could be completely isolated from the rest of the world behind a concrete wall, to rot there alone, then that would be possible, but the problem is that Russia is utterly unwilling to stay within its borders.
The problem is that a regime like Putin's can only feed on fresh blood, fresh meat. It can only intensify expansion. Russia is already talking quite openly about Poland, about the Baltic States. You can contain an evil that has no global aspirations, but Russian expansion has strong global aspirations. To impose its order and "correct" vision on the whole world. Its total stupidity."
Bykov is not one of the hardcore anti-Putinists. He was, until recently, quite active and performed in Russia, where his books were published. They are still available in Russian bookshops. But he is also clearly aware that the moment of truth has come when you have to clearly affirm who you are. It is no longer possible to avoid this. Either you show determination, courage, willingness to fight and stand up for your values, or you cowardly sink to your knees and admit that your values are not worth it.
At the moment, neither Scholz nor, even more so, Macron is demonstrating manliness. One can joke about toxic masculinity, but there is no room for jokes anymore. Until recently, it was considered polite to show one's distaste for what was happening near the Russian Embassy. Now it has become clear that to castigate man-eaters as bloodthirsty is the same as to call for veganism at the lion's den. You can do that, of course, but it is futile to expect any effect. It is time to show our distaste at the embassies of the leaders of European cowardice - Germany, France and, by association, Italy. These countries must simply be told - shame on you.