In fact, of course, this crazy world today gives so many reasons for gnawing that the author of these lines is even somehow scared for professional comedians who simply have to hastily retrain in order to continue corny to keep up with the trends. You will still laugh, but one of them even recently became the leader of an entire European country. Well, the medical fact that this amazing country in itself, of course, from the point of view of European civilization standards, as it were, to put it mildly, is a little funny, only adds to the chill. Encountering it with brute reality and thereby raising it to the degree of existential, excuse me, absurdity, as well as multiplying world entropy and increasing the humorous effect.
Here is a simple example.
Here just the other day, the leadership of young East European democracy, not fraternal towards the Russian Federation, was shocked to the foundations of its peculiar mentality: in 2019, a symbol of the Ukrainian state was included as a “nationalist and extremist” in the manual on countering extremism for British teachers and doctors say, the authorities are a trident, the corresponding photo was added to the specialized section of tattoos. Moreover, this guide is distributed among employees (we would have passed the category “For official use”) for a purely practical purpose: to identify persons prone to terrorist violence. What is especially characteristic, in the section devoted to tattoos, the Ukrainian trident is located directly next to its original comrades-in-arms: swastika, runes of sigel and other Nazi symbols.
By relics, in general, and fir trees.
In Britain itself, however, they tried even to slightly justify themselves after that. But it’s really slightly, because the activities of the internal affairs department, of course, can sometimes harm the activities of the foreign affairs agency. But the interests of her Majesty’s subjects are still considered more prominent than the interests of some Eastern Europeans, so the police have a very natural priority. So, in particular, Dean Haydon, the senior national counterterrorism police coordinator, spoke out on this subject, saying that the inclusion of the image in the manual does not mean the extremist nature of the symbol, and all the more, if not finally, confused: what other tattoos can there be, except it is extremely difficult for an outside observer to understand extremist, in a direct manual designed to teach counteraction to precisely extremism. Nevertheless, they still refused to remove him from there to the NCTPN (National Anti-Terrorism Agency of Great Britain) with true British arrogance, even after protests from Kiev.
Politely explaining to the indignant Ukrainian side that “the manual was not written for you,” Ukrainians have nothing to do with it. And quite the contrary, “it was designed to help the police and immediate partners to recognize and understand the signs and symbols that employees may encounter in the service.” That is, if it was very rude and verbatim, it was literally explained to the Ukrainians on the fingers that their number was six and on command they should: a) lie, b) silently. If anyone does not understand what is happening, see point “a”. And so, as you want, so here it is, senior coordinator of the NCTPN, and understand.
The Ukrainians, however, it seems to us, understood correctly and therefore even got a little offended, thereby triggering the astonished and even somewhere admired reaction of the anti-terrorist agency in London.
And the British counterintelligence, in general, can be understood somewhere. This is the official position of Kiev, and this must be enjoyed, excuse me, literally: “The placement of the trident, the constitutional national symbol and the coat of arms of Ukraine, in the anti-extremism guide issued by the anti-terrorism police for teachers and medical personnel in the UK is extremely outrageous. There are no acceptable explanations. We demand the removal of the trident from the manual with an official apology. ” However, having renounced sovereignty, they no longer cry for tridents, and even in such a pleading tone.
Once again: in Kiev they understood everything correctly, however, somehow it didn’t somehow get any easier for them. And here is the progressive part of the Russian expert community that immediately responded to a fair, in general, credit for the initiative of the British police with the words “in England they finally began to come to their senses”, just nothing, in general, as always, I did not get that. And generally deeply mistaken.
Sorry, they did not start to come anywhere in their England - because they did not go out of nowhere.
And it is somehow extremely naive not to understand.
And in general, in connection with what is happening, any hint of a change in British policy in relation to Ukrainian problems, even if it was this problem, at least three times really Nazi, at least it would be pretty ridiculous.
And this, by the way, does not have any double standards, on the contrary: if some native bastard is useful for a British gentleman east of Suez, this does not mean that these Nazis should insult carefully cut lawns and neglect to walk along already unsafe streets civilized European cities. Therefore, there is no need to send any political signals to Dean Haydon, the senior coordinator of the NCTPN: he is a man of purely practical duty and is only responsible for what is west of Suez.
And there, to the west, they told you about this repeatedly and right in the eye: sorry, they are not waiting for you.
As a matter of fact, this event, with the appropriation of the state Ukrainian symbolism of the adjectives “extremist” and “terrorist”, is even interesting in itself only as a visual aid on the topic “see how it actually works”: well, yes, that's right.
And how do you, excuse me, like?
The actions directed by British officials on the external contour can be politicized arbitrarily, and there any cranky or bearded criminal, if you shoot him from the right television perspective, can easily become a true freedom fighter.
But at the same time, if a truly dangerous extremist animal somehow, by oversight of the authorities, enters the territory of the metropolis, then the virtual reality of “daisies and meadows” should instantly be replaced by the most rabid counter-terrorism pragmatism. And the doctor, to whom a specimen with a tattoo of this kind got on examination, should not bother about the struggle for freedom and other high politics, but simply knock on it without fail in the nearest little neighborhood.
Well, sorry, that's all ...
... But in fact, this story, amazing in its clearness, about the collision of the virtual “symbolism of young Ukrainian statehood” with a specific British understanding of practical reality and a no less peculiar sense of humor, should certainly serve, first of all, as a good lesson, not only for Ukrainians, but for unfortunately, there are a disproportionate number of those post-Soviet, including domestic, friends of Britain, whom we have in Russian political circles in the last couple of decades divorced.
And who for some reason are still convinced that love is only mutual.
Especially in a situation where a real British gentleman hints at high feelings.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.