Financial Post: Demonizing Russia isn’t productive - by Vincent Lauerman

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Demonizing Russia isn’t productive - by Vincent Lauerman

For the sake of our own interests, the West should avoid blindly supporting countries such as Georgia and Ukraine in their disputes with Russia. Doing so merely pushes Russia deeper into an authoritarian bloc - a threat to European Union energy security and a geopolitical and economic catastrophe as well. The major powers need to work together to counter the economic fallout from the global financial crisis, not break into competing political and economic blocs as in the past (for example, during the Great Depression).According to a Nov. 7 article in The New York Times, accounts by independent military observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe at the beginning of the war call into question President Saakashvili's description of events. Most important, the monitors were unable to substantiate his claim that ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia were under heavy bombardment prior to Georgia moving its troops back into the region. In contrast, the monitors indicated that Georgia's "indiscriminate" bombardment of Tskhinvali put civilians, unarmed monitors and Russian peace keepers in harms way.

Note EU-Digest: A strategic partnership between Russia and the EU is not only essential for both countries but also practical as a first step to potential Russian membership in the EU. Russia is a European country and must be recognized as such.