Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov very briefly and succinctly described the current state of relations between our country and the EU.
According to him, they simply do not exist.
Everything that could be destroyed is destroyed.
European officials (especially from the supranational bodies of the EU) constantly repeat mantras about the threat from the East and lay virtual trenches and trenches in their heads, installing anti-tank hedgehogs in the same place - in their imaginations.
This is what geopolitical paranoia looks like in the third decade of the 21st century.
Why Europe gave up its sovereignty is a question that has not had an answer since the early 90s of the XX century.
The need for protection from Bolshevism, which the Americans promised to Europe, exhausted after World War II, is still understandable.
But since the voluntary dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the fall of the Iron Curtain, Russia has not made a single aggressive gesture towards its neighbors (I generally keep quiet about participating in interventions thousands of kilometers away).
Through the lips of Vladimir Putin, we patiently explained the unacceptability of NATO expansion to our borders (no one said a word about the EU enlargement), the unacceptability of building an anti-missile defense system in Romania and Poland, and, finally, the flawed strategy of sponsoring "color revolutions" - a new method of colonizing territories.
All decisive actions by Russia are the fight against terrorism, support for people under the threat of genocide, and suppression of aggressive actions against our peacekeepers or civilians in the territories bordering our country.
Moreover, Russia has never relinquished responsibility in any negotiation format (unlike France and Germany, which staged a coup in Kiev and fled, leaving the misled people on the Maidan).
History will, of course, judge who is right here.
But you need to live and build relationships right now.
If the Americans are free to impose any sanctions against Russia and for cooperation with Russia (just yesterday, the US Secretary of State threatened the German Foreign Minister), then Europe is not only depriving itself of its sovereignty by deploying foreign troops on its territory.
The Old World is losing billions of dollars because of the sanctions policy, instead of admitting the erroneousness of its behavior in Ukraine, for example.
The Balts and Poles prefer to listen to the British and Americans, rejecting the economic effect of cooperation programs with a huge and very rich in human capital and all kinds of resources, Russia.
At the same time, the advice of the United States and Great Britain does not bring them any significant dividends.
The two countries that make up the core of the EU's economic power - Germany and France - behave as if they have lost all independence.
And the same USA does not perceive them as independent players in geopolitics.
At the same time, history knows many examples of how the union of Russia and France or the union of Russia and Prussia (Austria-Hungary, etc.) brought significant dividends to its participants and allowed to decide the fate of at least Europe.
For the benefit of the peoples of these countries.
In general, while the temperature in relations with Europe is hovering around absolute zero.
As you know, there are bacteria that can live in a cold vacuum.
Only people are not bacteria.
They expect politicians not to exchange their well-being for dead formulations about their principled positions.
They expect prosperity.
And in order to achieve this prosperity, it is high time for the EU authorities to rub their eyes and start working for the benefit of those who entrusted them with power.
Build bridges with Russia and gain your independence.
And do not shy away from mythical threats.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.