The EU should stop ‘westsplaining’ and listen to its smaller eastern members – they saw the Ukraine war coming, researcher says

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The EU should stop ‘westsplaining’ and listen to its smaller eastern members – they saw the Ukraine war coming, researcher says

There is a “stark difference of opinion between countries like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic as compared to western European countries such as France or Germany”, writes Viktoriia Lapa from the Institute for European Policymaking at the Bocconi University in Italy, arguing that “westsplaining” still prevails in the European Union.

“By 2022, Russia had launched a full-scale attack against Ukraine. Words of support came from every direction but concrete support was less forthcoming. During the first days of the war, Germany refused to send weapons to Ukraine and even prevented Estonia from sending its old howitzer artillery weapons by withholding approval,” Lapa writes.

“Lithuania, meanwhile, along with Latvia, Estonia and Poland, were sounding the alarm about the threat the situation posed to the rest of the region and called for Europe to support Ukraine “with every means available”. For many in the region, Europe should commit unambiguously to helping Ukraine win the war.”

“Until recently, even French president Emmanuel Macron was suggesting that Ukraine should compromise on some of its sovereignty to accommodate Putin’s demands. Such comments were coldly received in Baltic and eastern European states.”

“When Macron changed his strategy to say that he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, he faced backlash from several European capitals. However, he found an ally in Lithuania.”

“In a positive sign of recognition, EU Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen mentioned in her annual state of the union address in 2022: ‘We should have listened to the voices inside our union – in Poland, in the Baltics, and all across central and eastern Europe.’”