new york times - autor poljak Slawomir Sierakowski
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/opini ... inion&_r=0
Mr. Putin has even succeeded in establishing a foothold within the European Union itself.
After tensions emerged between the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, and the European Union and International Monetary Fund, Russia stepped in, signing an enormous loan agreement on Jan. 14 to boost Hungary’s nuclear power industry. This compounds Hungary’s current dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies: Eighty percent of the oil consumed in Hungary comes from Russia, as does 75 percent of its natural gas.
Mr. Orban’s case is especially troubling. He was famous for his anti-Russian stance: Until recently he warned against “Gazprom’s armies,” referring to the giant Russian energy company. Today he is inviting them in, and attempting to persuade fellow European Union countries to alter their policies vis-à-vis Russia in a “pragmatic” direction. His volte-face is a signal that in most cases, a surprising re-evaluation of attitudes is possible, and other nationalists, too, might exchange their alliance with the passive West for an alliance with expansive Russia and China.
This is especially likely as nationalist parties make gains across the European Union.
Consider Mr. Orban’s closest ally in Europe, the Polish politician Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is positioning himself for national office (he has already served as prime minister) by promising to give Poles “Budapest in Warsaw”; his supporters continue to attend Mr. Orban’s rallies.
To those who know Polish history, this would not come as a surprise. The history of the Polish nationalist movement begins with the alliance of the National Democrats, known as Endecja, with Moscow, which was exploited during the 1905 Polish revolution. Sooner or later, Moscow was always able to find “friends” on the banks of the Vistula. Almost every country in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe has had a similar experience.
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The West is in a losing position because it can neither reward nor punish. Despite its accumulated wealth, it is not ready to make sacrifices. Within Western societies, economic solidarity is collapsing. Mobilization in favor of other nations is limited to empty words and gestures. In effect, the West is unable to outbid the financial capacity of autocratic Russia or China, even though they are poorer than the European Union or the United States.
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