Mistral deal unacceptable with war raging in Ukraine

VILNIUS - President Dalia Grybauskaite said on July 22 that the European Union was compromising its values to protect trade ties with Russia, pointing to a French warship agreement with Moscow, reports AFP. “We see the Mistralization of European policy,” Grybauskaite said, referring to a 1.2 billion euro deal to supply Russia with two French Mistral warships.

“Values and security are undermined for the sake of business, when ‘buy and rule’ is being applied,” the president told public broadcaster LRT, suggesting Moscow is using its purchasing power to divide opinion within the EU.
“The sale of military technology to Russia under current circumstances cannot be tolerated,” Grybauskaite, a former EU budget commissioner, said.

EU foreign ministers agreed last week to ratchet up sanctions on Russia over the Malaysian plane disaster.
Grybauskaite, ahead of the decision, warned “indecisive” EU policy would mean “a direct invitation for the aggressor to be more aggressive and go further.”
The Western powers ratcheted up the pressure on Moscow for failing to rein in pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, and accuse it of supplying the sophisticated weaponry.

Having anchored their security in the EU and NATO following the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Baltic States and Poland are wary of the impact of Russia’s actions in Ukraine on their security, the AFP points out.
“Nazism was not stopped in the 1930s, and we now we see great-Russia chauvinism which leads to things like an attack against a civilian airliner,” said Grybauskaite. “Those who organized, ordered and supplied weapons must be held responsible, before the Hague Tribunal,” she added.