On November 2, 2020, I wrote a column entitled "German New Deal, will this be the end of the Three Seas Initiative?" The column focused mainly on the proposal of the German Minister of Defense - Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer - a new order in transatlantic relations. I compared this deal then to the situation 82 years ago, when the Munich Agreement was signed. It turns out that the current Chamberlain of our time is US President Joe Biden announcing to the world that we have a new deal: "Peace for Our Time."
The Nordstream pipeline (Source: Wikipedia)
The US administration announced the lifting of sanctions on Nord Stream 2, which is a breach of the double sanctions voted on by the American Congress with the support of Republicans and some Democrats. Nord Stream 2, like Nord Steam 1, is a geopolitical project that significantly affects international and European security, further dividing Europe into two parts. It disintegrates NATO's cohesion, leads to the transfer of significant sums to Russia, which allocates them to armaments and the activities of a hybrid war against NATO and the countries of Eastern Europe. Berlin and Moscow support this project at the highest levels of government, where political support is guaranteed by former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel. Both, with hypocrisy, say that this project is only economic in nature.
However, the US global leadership requires decisive steps, so a German American agreement was reached in Washington. The cost of Germany not taking part in the US-Chinese rivalry on the Chinese side, will allow Germany to gain favor with Russia and, still treat Eastern Europeans as lesser cousins, a tacit favor to Russia. What is the price of this "Peace for Our Time"?
For the liberal democracies of the West, more than 111 million people from Eastern Europe are a price that can be paid for gaining “silent allies” in the fight against the Chinese. That is why, post factum, American diplomats now travel to the capitals of Eastern European countries and demand that they "keep quiet". Sitting quietly is probably the dream attitude of the Western European elites. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see when the countries of Eastern Europe will start to act as sovereign countries and not as post-colonial ones.
At present, we are observing how individual countries are breaking out of mutual solidarity by disappearing from various formats, and by attacking Poland as the largest country in this camp. As long as these countries do not develop a joint policy of action together, they will be the subject of the post-colonial policy of Germany, Russia, and the United States. The Three Seas Initiative is such a chance to break this losing streak. If we do not use it and don't take the initiative, we will lose.
Let us establish a Three Seas secretariat in one of the countries in this area. Let us use international law and recall the Budapest Memorandum, which guaranteed Ukraine's territorial integrity. Let us establish a Three Seas media that would show a different narrative from Berlin, Moscow or Washington. Let us invite well-known politicians who support the Three Seas. Do we have such plans or are we just complaining and grumbling instead of creating our own narrative and showing true historical facts?
The text originally appeared in Tygodnik Solidarność (Solidarity Weekly).
