What are the Euro PS'ers thinking about Ukraine?

[Bob]

I haven't really paid much attention to it.  I see military things going on in the news now.

Anyone here in Europe near there? 

[theholygideons]

World War 3!!!!

[Bob]

I don't think those countries have many English speakers.  Littletune is probably the closest but that's a few countries away still.

[theholygideons]

I still wanna see Russia get a taste of its own medicine though.

[faulty_damper]

I'm in America so I'm pretty ignorant of what's going on.  (Typical American. )

But what's going on in Ukraine and Russia?  Ukraine has some very beautiful women that I'd rather they not get hurt in all the comeuppance.  My favorite nude model is Ukrainian. 

[indianajo]

I feel sorry for the people of Ukraine, and Russia too, actually.  Except the top .001% that skim all the money off the government taxes and loans.
Russia really needs a southern port.  Sebastopol is it. They fought a war in 1854, and another in 1943.    Unfortunately the people that live west of Crimea are not Russian, don't use the Cyrilic alphabet, are in the Roman Catholic church, not the Eastern Orthodox, and don't speak Russian.  And then there are the Moslem Tartars that originally lived in the Crimea but whose parents were deported in WWII.  
I wish our (US) President and Secretary of State would keep their mouths shut sometimes.  We're not going to fight a war over Crimea, look at the logistics just getting an Army there from here.  
The eastern districts of Ukraine voted for Yanakovich (according to BBCnews), let them have him, his gold bathroom fixtures, rare wood paneling,  and private zoo, too.  Just let there be an organized vote, not some fiat enforced with weapons.  The Ukraine elections have been 49% to 48% for years, there is a serious divide in the country, and the people of the East make their money off the Russians.  
Putting the previous President/Prime Minister in jail because he/she lost the election is stupid with a 49-48 result every time that swings back and forth.  Look at all those televisions LBJohnson carted off to Texas when he left the White House.  Pay the old leader a retirement stipend, and forget him, if he takes his hand out of the cookie jar.  
The whole thing blows up periodically because Ukraine burns natural gas from Russia they don't pay for.  Let them buy insulation instead, or dig subterranean houses or something.  Heating all those drafty stone piles of houses is pre-industrial.  I can't believe Russia hasn't built a pipeline across BeloRussia to Poland to sell their methane; this has been going on for over a decade.  

[outin]

To be honest, I'm so used to things like this happening in the former USSR areas, so I don't think about it much at all.

[thalbergmad]

I only hope that England is not besieged with refugees.

Thal

[littletune]

I don't think those countries have many English speakers.  Littletune is probably the closest but that's a few countries away still.

I just looked at a map of Europe now and was supprised how close Ukraine is to my country!  I guess I should have known that    it seems that you could travel only through the whole Hungary, which is our neighbour country, and you would be in the Ukraine (although only a very small part of Ukraine is touching Hungary).

But yes I know it's really horrible there (and lots of people died) it's on the news every day, I came in the room yesterday when my mum and dad were watching the news and it was about the president (or whatever he is) and all the expensive things he has (or had?) I know they said people were looking at his things and some were saying they should turn all that into a museum of corruption (or something like that). But I don't know much more than that.

[oxy60]

From a US citizen POV who has lived in Europe I only hope we don't get involved. We have John McCain and his cadre who want us to get into everything.

For all the wars we've gotten into in the last years (Korea onward) nothing has been improved.  We need to stay out of this one too.

[thalbergmad]

We need to stay out of this one too.

Amen to that.

[ahinton]

I only hope that England is not besieged with refugees.

I only hope that Ukrainians - and, let's face it, Belarussians, Moldovans and the inhabitants of any other country that was once part of the Soviet bloc and which has yet to become an EU member state - will not be, or feel, sufficiently displaced as to require the attainment of refugee status wherever they might seek to end up if indeed they do.

Best,

Alistair

[jknott]

I'm surprised this hasn't come up before on the forum. 

I think Russian's action is terrible. My daughter has friends in Crimea and has stayed there several times to do research on Crimean politics: she is very concerned for them and for what might happen next.  (I'm very glad she's not there now - this time last year she was.) 

Remember one of the greatest pianists of the last century, Emil Gilels, was from Ukraine - not Crimea but Odessa.

[vladimir_gouldowsky]

.

[thalbergmad]

I think Russian's action is terrible.

Is not Crimea largely populated by Ethnic Russians who wish to be part of Russia as opposed to Europe??

Thal

[thalbergmad]

I only hope that Ukrainians - and, let's face it, Belarussians, Moldovans and the inhabitants of any other country that was once part of the Soviet bloc and which has yet to become an EU member state - will not be, or feel, sufficiently displaced as to require the attainment of refugee status wherever they might seek to end up if indeed they do.

Agreed, but if they do feel sufficiently displaced, I hope they don't come here.

Thal

[jknott]

You should read my daughter's blog article.  If I knew how to insert a link here I would.  It's not nearly as simple as Ethnic Russian = pro-Russian intervention.  The association for Russian unity (made up of ethnic pro-Russians as the name suggests) yesterday sent a message to Putin saying they didn't want or need his "help".

And why shouldn't we welcome them into the UK if it came to that?  When I was a kid in the 60s in the north of England, there were Ukrainian families who had been displaced in WWII/by Stalin.  Immigrants are good for the economy too!

[thalbergmad]

Immigrants are good for the economy too!

When we have control over the numbers, yes.

What we don't want is our imbecile government getting involved, spending millions of pounds we do not have and then feeling obliged to take in thousands of refugees.

Thal

[jknott]

sorry I can't be bothered arguing with you. 

My daughter is getting reports of explosion in Simferopol.

[thalbergmad]

My daughter is getting reports of explosion in Simferopol.

That is one of the by products of military stand offs. I would be more surprised if there were not any explosions .

Thal