European Problems Require European Solutions

A full scale Russian imperialist invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.  No one imagined that another international war would take place on the European continent. (The devolution of the former Yugoslavia was accompanied by wars between the various former constituent states of that ultimately artificial nation but did not reach the level of an international war.) The horrible destruction of World War II was enough of a lesson for Europe! The downfall of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991 and its social imperialist empire in eastern Europe was greeted with the expectation that peace would finally come to the European continent. But it was not to be.

American errors cannot be excused from the current violent turmoil that exists in Europe. Prior to the reunion of the former German Democratic Republic into the German Federal Republic, representations were made that NATO would not move eastward. In return, Soviet troops stationed in the GDR were removed. During the presidency of Bill Clinton, with the support of Secretary of State Madeline Albright and her mentor Zbigniew Brzezinski, NATO expanded eastward to the Russian border as its former eastern European satellite states entered NATO as did the former “Soviet republics” of the Baltic states.  Believe it or not, American troops are currently stationed in Poland and Rumania. What are they doing there? As the US is being crushed under massive budget deficits and a massive and growing national debt, we continue to spend billions to defend the world against whom it is difficult to say. World War II ended over eighty years ago but American men and women are still stationed there as Europeans sit at outdoor cafes and enjoy life while their leaders lecture the US on how to behave.

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was created on April 4,1949 in reaction to the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia and the Berlin blockade and airlift. NATO was organized to oppose the threat posed by the USSR and its satellites which responded by creating a competing organization through the Warsaw Pact in1955. That treaty was dissolved in 1991 with the downfall of communism.

After an interval of kleptocracy by Boris Yeltsin and his cronies, an extreme Russian imperialist, KGB veteran Vladimir Putin was “crowned", with Yeltsin’s connivance, as the new Russian Czar. Putin’s revanchist regime has used violence on multiple occasions as he seeks to expand the borders of the rump Russian state. Wars in the Caucuses against Georgia, seizure of parts of Ukraine (Crimea) and finally the ruthless brutal invasion of Ukraine have made clear Putin’s ultimate goal-the restoration of the former borders of the USSR. This puts particular pressure on the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which all have large minorities of ethnic Russians who were moved there under the former USSR’s Russification policy. (25%,25% and 5% respectively). Putin’s policy is reminiscent of Hitler’s policy to bring all German speakers into the Reich. His policy reached its apogee at the Munich Conference which crucified democratic Czechoslovakia, which was not allowed to be present at that notorious conference. The illusion of peace ended less that a year later as World War II began on September 1,1939 with the Nazi attack on Poland. Appeasement didn’t work then and will not work now.

It is hard to believe that a similar scenario is taking place today. The US has presented a 28 point plan, formulated without Ukrainian input, which would hand Ukrainian national territory, currently in Ukrainian hands to the Russian aggressor and “Finlandize“ Ukraine, in effect turning it into a Russian dependency. A NATO guarantee would be offered to Ukraine but without NATO membership. What is truly problematic is the possibility of Ukraine invoking Article 5 of the NATO treaty, namely an attack on one is an attack on all, if difficulties with Russia arose in the future. This open-ended guarantee could potentially involve the United States in a European war and reminds us of Lyndon Johnson’s declaration that he wasn’t going to send American boys to do Asian boys' job. That led to 58,000 American boys' death in the Vietnam War. There is no shortage of Europeans to defend Europe. American help isn’t needed.

Today, eighty years after the end of World War II, Europe is totally rehabilitated. There is no need for American men and women to be stationed in Europe against a problem that 450 million Europeans can and must deal with. It is time for all the American troops to come home. NATO can be replaced by the European Defense Community (EDC) which was proposed in the 1950s but was stillborn due to French stubbornness and arrogance. The European Union (EU) is rich and powerful. They compete with the US economically and politically; in the farcical United Nations (UN) they insist on the inadmissibility of conquest of territory by war-unless Russia or China (PRC) are involved. Those two dictatorships, permanent members of the so called UN Security Council, will get a free pass as long as the US provides a shield for the EU. Russia will not stop at Ukraine. Lithuania and Poland can expect Russian efforts to establish a land bridge to Kaliningrad Oblast. The United Kingdom is a nuclear power as is France, an EU member. There is no need for American intervention on the European continent. Russia is a European problem and Europe can and must respond. The UN Charter prohibits the use of force in international relations, prohibits conquest by war and prohibits the recognition of such conquests. Will the EU step up? This war has now endured two American presidencies. Both have failed miserably in their attempts to intervene and promote peace with imperialist Russia. Now, America must withdraw from any negotiations as Russia is in frank violation of International law. Europe must solve its problems and that may require force on their part. If that is so, they have the means and capability to impose their will on the Russian aggressor.The time for European action has arrived. Europe must solve Europe’s problems.

Garry S. Sklar

Las Vegas, NV

November 30, 2025

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