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Red Youth and Red should put aside ideological blinders and realize that Russia is an imperialist superpower that wants to subjugate other countries. NATO and the EU are the salvation of the people of Eastern Europe.
Red Youth, and the mother party Red, paints the Russian dictatorship and criticizes the West in posts in VG and in Political neighborhood. The party on the far left believes that Norway has as much responsibility for the tense situation as Russia.
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Even Conservatives know that the world is neither black nor white. And you will find few who think US foreign policy is perfect. However, it should not be controversial to think that NATO has served Europe well.
Ukraine wants away
After the fall of the Soviet Union, millions of Europeans were liberated from communist and Russian supremacy. Several of the countries that were part of – or controlled by – the Soviet Union, quickly turned their nose to the west. Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have not looked back since. With membership in both NATO and the EU, they have achieved prosperity growth, economic growth and growth in democratic values that Ukraine envies them. This is precisely why the Ukrainians also want membership in the EU and NATO, and away from Russia.
Ukraine’s ambition to become a western country is also the reason why Russia has gone to war – and is considering invading the country. For NATO, there is no military threat to Putin. Militarily, we are superior. The biggest threat to Putin is that the Russian people will become democracy optimists by seeing that their neighbors experience democracy and prosperity. He wants to prevent this, so that his own people do not go against him to demand the values we in the West take for granted.
In other words, Putin’s desire is not peace. The Russian regime wants insecurity in our part of the world. If we look at their foreign policy in recent years, the Russian regime has occupied part of another European country, interfered in Western elections and poisoned its own politicians – both within its own and other countries’ borders. It is naive to think that we are as much to blame for a new Cold War as such a regime. As naive as believing that a Norway outside NATO would make us safer.
The Ukraine conflict is not just about Ukraine itself. It is about how far we are willing to go to give Eastern Europeans the same opportunities that we in the West have been given. Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians are all good examples – and the Ukrainians should be given exactly the same opportunities.
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In fact, Russia promised the Ukrainians sovereignty, independence and respect for its own borders back in 1994. Russia has broken that promise itself. The country alone is to blame for the tense conflict we see today.
The Baltic countries may be next
Red Youth or Red may be willing to sacrifice Ukraine to preserve a kind of “peace” in Europe. That the West should leave Ukraine to Russian influence to make Putin feel safe. Such a worldview is reminiscent of the British Prime Minister who in 1938 had negotiated with Hitler. He promised “peace for our time.” But as in 1938, dictators in 2022 will not deal with diplomacy alone. We need military power too.
If we give in to the Russians this time, it may be the turn of the Baltic countries. In the event of a conflict in the east, it is demanding for Norway to contribute. For some, including Red Youth and Red, it may even be tempting to leave Norway out of NATO. It is fundamentally unsympathetic. For NATO cooperation is not just about protecting us and our own. It is also about standing up to authoritarian regimes that interfere with Western democracies. This time it’s Ukraine. Next time there is someone else.
If Rødt comes to power, we can only hope that Norway is the next country in line.
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