On 18th March the House of Lords had a “Take Note” debate with 21 speakers – Hansard cols 99 to 154. Opinions ranged from “don’t appease aggression or reward breaches of international law”, to “don’t start a new cold war, let alone a hot one”.
At cols 122 to 123, I argued that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) provides the ideal context for dealing with complex issues of national identity and culture. It has much experience of upholding the reasonable rights of national and ethnic minorities. The well-known principles of the “Territorial Integrity of States” and the “Self Determination of Peoples” frequently clash. The difficult but desirable thing is to reconcile them both, without resorting to violence.
I have followed this up with a Question suggesting that the Defence Ministers of Russia and the Ukraine should meet, in order to work out ways of separating the military and paramilitary forces on either side, particularly where these confront or threaten each other. This would at least reduce the risk of an accidental start leading to wider fighting. Hot-lines between nearby commanders would also be helpful. Such precautions are all the more necessary in volatile situations, where there have already been casualties on both sides.
http://www.osce.org/node/107870
http://www.osce.org/cio/116670
Hm! Their main gist is the Presidential elections in Ukraine now planned for mid May 2014. No mention of Crimea.
Thanx to Lord Hylton for reminding us of the relevant organization to do the work of election observing and monitoring, which will be necessary to satisfy the world community of probity.
This Ukraine scenario has far more to do with the so called ‘federal reserve’ than what is happening on the ground in that bombarded country. Did we hear the most concern from Ashton in that phone call with Paet was the concerns of the IMF and how they were the funding behind it.
Russia is not willing to go along with any more of it as they have twigged, at last, that they are in for a big takeover if they don’t stop it now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLKsfpcxQOk
And the gold market as a result of what is taking place on the ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXGPzDq45gM
I came across this link on another website this morning, thought here would be a good place to put it for all to see.
http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2014/03/30/us-war-plan-for-europe-and-russia/