These are excerpts from the article, which can be read in full at Gefira Financial Bulletin #68.
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Ukrainian and Belarusian path to prosperity
The Ukrainian elite hesitated about which path to take. They hesitated because some of them were clearly pro-Russian (because they are Russians! living in Ukraine) and some were pro-Western. Whenever pro-Western elites prevailed, Kiev flirted with the West and expressed aspirations to become not only a member of the European Union, but also a member of NATO. What has been the result of pro-Western inclinations and Western promises of support? Here you go:
① mass emigration from the country: Ukraine, which had a population of roughly fifty (50) million at the end of the Soviet Union, now has a population of forty (40) million. It looks as if a war has swept through the country!
② Ukraine lost Crimea, and more recently four eastern and southern provinces;
③ Ukraine has been dragged into a war that is killing its citizens, destroying its infrastructure, industry and other resources, while the country
④ is incurring huge debts to acquire weapons and to rebuild what has been destroyed.
And how are people living in Belarus? In this Belarus, which is despised and ruled by the “last dictator in Europe”? Let’s take a look:
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The Ukrainian road to prosperity once again
Haven’t the Ukrainians done the same as Poles did two hundred years earlier? Consider: if they had not listened to the West, if they had followed the path of Alexander Lukashenko:
① they would have retained all the territory of their own state, including Crimea,
② their industry and infrastructure would not have been destroyed,
③ they would not have lost in killed and wounded tens of thousands of citizens,
④ they would not have lost millions of citizens as a result of emigration.
However, the Ukrainians – at least those who came to power – preferred to listen to the West, preferred to be a tool in the hands of Washington, and are now reaping the harvest. As you sow, so shall you reap.
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