Geopolitics and politics

By Konrad Rekas

Vienna Security Round Table „Security Policy Challenges for Europe in 2023“

On 24th February 2022 Poles have run to our South-Eastern border.  The human, often Christian-motivated, compassion impulse pushed thousands of my compatriots to spontaneous gestures of help towards people whom they considered to be refugees from the war and immediate threats to their lives.  Leading by hearts, not minds we have remained blind not only to demography, but also to geography.  We have travelled hundreds of kilometres to pick up ‘refugees’ who has just advertised themselves on the Internet as awaiting ones.  Almost no one paid attention to the fact that most of the newcomers came from areas that had not been affected by warfare at any time and to this day.  No one remembered that Ukraine, being a country larger than Poland within its current borders, has huge territorial reserves, allowing for free internal migrations of the population.  Only a slight propaganda stimulus was enough, intensified by the very fact of war in a country directly bordering Poland and hearts opened along with borders.  Repentance came over time, to a very limited extent, and of course, when it was already too late, and the Polish-Ukrainian border was crossed by 10 million 400 thousand Ukrainians within 13 months.

By Stephan Ossenkopp, Analyst and journalist, Schiller Institute, Berlin, Germany

Vienna Security Round Table „Security Policy Challenges for Europe in 2023“

Germany is currently on a path of isolation and destruction. If this sounds overly dramatic, let me put some of the elements in perspective.

In the energy sector, competitively priced natural gas and oil from Russia, coupled with reliable German technology in nuclear, coal and gas-fired power plants, has allowed Germany to enjoy a systemic advantage that has made possible a broad productive middle class, high-quality export products and a world-class industrial base. But with the energy transition – the phase-out of nuclear power, the planned phase-out of coal and gas, and the boycott of cheap Russian energy imports – this advantage has completely evaporated. No matter how many solar panels and windmills the government mandates.

Международный круглый стол «Вызовы политики безопасности для Европы в 2023» состоялся 30 марта 2023 г. в Вене, при поддержке Венской ассоциацией ученых и Центра геостратегических исследований. В мероприятии приняли участие политики и эксперты из Германии, Италии, Франции, Сербии, Польши, Сирии и Австрии.

30 марта представители оппозиционной Австрийской партии свободы выразили недовольство выступлением Владимира Зеленского в парламенте Австрии и покинули заседание. Депутаты этой партии считают, что на лицо прямое нарушение австрийского нейтралитета. Президент Австрийской партии свободы Херберг Кикль заявил: «Как нейтральная страна, Австрия предоставляет слово президенту страны, которая находится в состоянии войны. Он распространяет украинскую, натовскую и американскую пропаганду».

The international round table „Security Policy Challenges for Europe in 2023“ was held on March 30, 2023 in Vienna, in cooperation with the Vienna Association of Academics and the Center for Geostrategic Studies, with the participation of politicians and experts from Germany, Italy, France, Serbia, Poland, Syria and Austria.

This interesting discussion on the Ukrainian conflict, mass migration, energy supply and current events was chaired by Patrick Poppel, an expert at the Center for Geostrategic Studies and a political analyst in Austria.

On the same day, in the Parliament of Austria, the Freedom Party of Austria expressed its displeasure over Vladimir Zelenski’s speech via video link and left the session. MPs of this party believe that this is a direct violation of the Austrian neutrality. The president of the Freedom Party of Austria, Herberg Kickl, said: „As a neutral country, Austria gives its word to the president of a country that is at war. Then you could say that he is spreading Ukrainian, NATO or American propaganda here“.

The participants of the round table „Challenges of security policy for Europe in 2023“ supported this position of the Austrian politicians from the Freedom Party of Austria.

By Dr. Vladislav B. Sotirovic

Preface

It will pass 33 years since the first post-WWII “democratic and multiparty” elections in all six Yugoslav republics in 1990. Next year, however, not only that this country did not exist anymore but the Yugoslavs have been faced with a civil war as a result of the post-Cold War “democratization process”.