“A new Europe” united against Russia – even neutral Switzerland
WASHINGTON — A continent that has spent most of the past millennium at war with itself has united against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Germany repeating its historic policy against shipping arms into conflict zones and even the notoriously neutral Switzerland, which joins the rest of Europe against Moscow, reverses.
“It’s the rebirth of a new Europe,” said Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia. “I’m absolutely shocked, I want to tell you honestly. It’s a historic shift. I think this will have major implications for the future of Europe, for the future of the transatlantic alliance, for the future of NATO – just when all these things were frayed.”
The European Union on Sunday agreed for the first time to directly fund the purchase and supply of arms, with plans to send more than half a billion dollars worth of military aid to Ukraine while it fights Russian forces, prompting the President of the European Union Commission referred to as a “turning point”.
Almost all European airspace is now closed to Russian aircraft, including private jets. The EU also banned Kremlin-backed media and took steps to freeze Russian assets and cut off the country’s access to the global financial system.
French Ambassador to the US Philippe Etienne said Monday on MSNBC that the united front was nothing short of “a turning point in the history of our continent”.
Sweden, which is not part of NATO and has maintained a policy of neutrality during both the world wars and the Cold War, announced this on Monday will send 5,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.
The Swedish government said it was the first time since 1939 that the Scandinavian country had sent arms to a country at war while aiding its neighbor Finland against a Soviet invasion.
Even Switzerland joined the fight.
Neutrality was a survival tactic for Switzerland, keeping the Alpine nation independent since Napoleon. It is neither part of the European Union nor NATO.
But bowing to public pressure from its citizens and all parties in its parliament except the extreme right, the Swiss government announced on Monday that it would do so join the EU sanction against Russia, blocking some high-ranking Russians with Swiss connections and blocking Swiss airspace for Russian flights.
The move is significant not only symbolically, but because Switzerland’s notoriously secretive banks are popular with Russian oligarchs.
“We are in an extraordinary situation in which extraordinary measures could be decided,” Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said at a press conference on Monday, noting that Swiss neutrality remains intact as the country does not send military aid or commit itself to the fight interferes.
But experts say the most significant measure could come from Germany.
The most powerful country in continental Europe has maintained friendly relations with Moscow for years, refusing to sell arms to countries involved in armed conflicts as part of a pacifist post-war doctrine.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement. “It threatens our entire post-war order. In this situation, it is our duty to do our utmost to help Ukraine defend against the invading army of Vladimir Putin.”
Out of economic necessity and the feeling of historical atonement for the crimes of the Nazis, Berlin sought to deal with Russia rather than confront it.
“There is an exaggerated perception in German public opinion, I would say a misperception, that confrontation with Russia during the Cold War led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Germany did more business with the USSR than other European countries,” said Charles Lichfield, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center. “That shaped German behavior.”
First last weekGermany not only refused to send its weapons to Ukraine, but also prevented other countries, such as the Netherlands, from sending their own German-made weapons to Kyiv.
But Berlin dramatically changed course over the weekend, announcing plans to send at least 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, paving the way for virtually the entire continent to join the fight.
“There was an urge for unity and Germany was an obstacle,” Lichfield said. “It is striking that after the German hurdle was removed, the EU stepped in.”
Tobias Vestner, head of the security and legal program at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, said Switzerland has long prided itself on being a safe place for international organizations and dialogues, like the summit it hosted last year between President Joe Biden and the Russian President hosted Vladimir Putin.
But Swiss citizens are starting to reconsider their role in an increasingly globalized world, Vestner said, especially after a pandemic that failed to respect international borders.
“We’ve never seen anything like it before,” he said. “So I wouldn’t be surprised if you see a change in the way neutrality is interpreted and applied.”