Proxy wars in the European continent
At first glance, it is not entirely appropriate to combine the topic of geopolitics with the Covid-19 pandemic. But leading European analysts have a different opinion. That is, they believe that geopolitics is directly relevant to the current events that have swept virtually the entire world. The struggle against the coronavirus also includes geopolitics and the global redistribution of power in the near future.
At the moment, China, Russia and some EU leaders are fully using the pandemic to achieve their own geopolitical goals. Narratives about a successful and generous China and, conversely, a helpless EU, are welcome in those European circles that cater to the mood of Euro skepticism.
…China and Russia are fully using the pandemic to achieve their own geopolitical goals…
Just one example of such propaganda: Russia sent its aid to the virus-stricken Italy. The air cargo seems to be humanitarian, intended to combat the epidemic.
In fact, all the support personnel are the middle level military servicemen of the Armed Forces of Russia. None of them is a professional in microbiology or virology. That is, no one is able to provide the Italians with adequate medical care. And the air cargo from Moscow, which is widely advertised on TV channels, as it turned out, is not needed by Italian doctors. Nearly one hundred of Russians who arrived by aircrafts, have already been infected with the coronavirus and are isolated in Italy for quarantine.
However, the propaganda mission has been fulfilled. The Italian Prime Minister, who authorized such an action with the participation of the Russian special services, also achieved his goal, although the state did not get any easier with such “aid”.
But history shows the danger of such carelessness and neglect of the elementary principles of coexistence in the world of global communications. The aftermath of the pandemic will demonstrate whether this world can change at all. So far all this hardly gives reasons for optimism.
Serhiy Polyovyk
