By: Franci Kindlhofer
In 1939, Stalin and Hitler concluded the Non-Aggression Pact, of which the secret additional protocol was the spark that ignited war throughout Europe. That is why we also talk about a pact against Europe. The initiator of this pact was Stalin, who felt ill-prepared for a possible confrontation with Hitler’s Germany. Hitler, however, gladly accepted the hand of the Communists, as this pact allowed him unhindered butchering in Western Europe, and he also gained a direct border with the Soviet Union, which facilitated a later attack on this stronghold of Communism. By giving Stalin an Eastern sphere of interest, they satisfied Stalin’s vein for the conquest and expansion of his Red Empire.
Following the developments on the Ukrainian border, this thought of a pact against Europe came to me again. The current president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, with his behaviour towards his neighbours and Western Europe does not hide similar moves with Stalin and Hitler. In all conversations and negotiations with Putin, negotiators and analysts of his actions must always keep in mind that they are dealing with an officer of the infamous Soviet-era KGB intelligence service. As a young officer, he was sent to Dresden, to the then German Democratic Republic, to lead an intelligence service aimed at Western Europe, in which he saw a great opponent of his communist state. For him, the collapse of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union was also a personal catastrophe. He suddenly fell from the position of a prominent KGB officer to the role of a taxi driver in St. Petersburg. His professional organisational talent helped him to rise from an insignificant man to the first man of the Russian Federation. Probably his traumas from the time of the disintegration of the SU, when he saw them as the culprits in the Western free world, were like those Hitler had in his failures, for which he blamed the Jews.
To rebuild together the former Soviet Union, he has so far used all possible methods. From financial and military aid to threats and even aggression and occupation of foreign territory, as we have seen in Ukraine. The Western world has shown great displeasure over this, but no more. He understood the weakness of the West as a sign of helplessness and has so far successfully carried out all his projects. In Syria, too, he has managed to maintain and build a leading position and protect dictator Assad. This, of course, not only on his own merits but also with the help of China, which, like Russia at the UN, blocked all resolutions that would allow intervention in Syrian events.
Now let’s look at what China’s global strategic goals are. After successfully swallowing Hong Kong’s financial oasis and already integrating it into their political system without serious Western interference, the Chinese are thinking ahead. Before their noses lie Taiwan, which is an independent, prosperous country without a communist system. But the Chinese are not only bothered by this. Taiwan is a world leader in the production of microchips as well as manufacturing machines. Therefore, it is in China’s great interest, by fair means or foul, to get hold of this extremely important technology, which would enable it to further influence the world economy and politics. However, as Taiwan has Western guarantees for its inviolability, with the US playing a crucial role, China is aware that an open military operation would not be easy and would certainly be more detrimental than beneficial to them.
However, if we look at the behaviour of the Russian Federation and the interests of China as a common problem of the West, we come to interesting conclusions. So, what would happen if we again witnessed a pact like the one made by Stalin and Hitler in their time? This route between China and the Russian Federation? Both sides could coordinate their aggression against Taiwan and Ukraine, thus splitting Western forces. Another big problem here is the behaviour of Germany, which is an economic giant but a political dwarf. German Chancellor Scholz has so far not bared his teeth to Putin. In the last conversation at the NATO headquarters, he showed leniency as far as the northern gas pipeline is concerned, but it would be in its place to threaten a bit with supplying arms to Ukraine. Understandably, Germany is more reserved about this because of its historical past, but it now bears a great deal of responsibility for Europe’s security. It will not be able to avoid this.
The Western, free world must do everything in its power to ensure that no one comes up with the idea of a pact against Europe.
Franci Kindlhofer is a publicist, vice-president of the Association of Political Prisoners and Other Victims of Communist Violence.
