Invasion of Ukraine has fast-tracked timetable for the countries to join bloc after years of ‘economic warfare’
  • @taladar@feddit.deEnglish
    5•8 months ago

    I wouldn’t say its influence is waning, just that it has less control over the outcome of its influence.

    • 520
      6•8 months ago

      It definitely has waned. Before the Ukraine war, nobody wanted to poke the bear that is Russia, not even the UK after Russia committed murder on their soil. Now, several countries see Russia as a paper tiger.

      • @taladar@feddit.deEnglish
        3•8 months ago

        My point was that countries in the region used to do what Russia wanted because they worried about Russia punishing them if they didn’t, now they do seek alliances with others against Russia’s wishes because they are worried about Russia doing stupid shit as part of its downfall.

  • AutoTL;DRBEnglish
    2•8 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    With bullying, cajoling and outright threats, the Kremlin’s campaign to warn its former Soviet subjects away from the EU involved telling them they would be blocked from the Russian market and its own customs union, and face cutoffs of crucial supplies of natural gas.

    In Moldova, where for decades pro-European and pro-Russian politicians had vied for control amid high levels of poverty and corruption, Russia’s actions in February 2022 gave the government of the president, Maia Sandu, a clear path to accelerated entry into the EU.

    Ukraine and Georgia, the latter now recommended by the European Union’s executive for formal candidate status to the bloc, also used the war as a springboard to apply for fast-track EU membership, submitting bids days after the Russian invasion began.

    While Turkey has waited decades to enter the bloc, the war in Ukraine has made clear to EU officials the need to have a secure eastern front with Russia.

    Dmitry Rogozin, then a deputy prime minister of Russia, suggested in 2013 that Moldova’s pursuit of a trade and association agreement with the EU could lead to the loss of territory, restrictions on migrant labour and cutoffs of natural gas supplies.

    Even in Georgia, where the EU decision appears largely symbolic in the short term, it has been hailed as the latest confirmation that Moscow has lost sway over its neighbours.

    The original article contains 643 words, the summary contains 226 words. Saved 65%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!