Politics

Political statements made before and after elections frequently diverge drastically. To a casual observer, it may appear that we are not discussing the same country. This is not even a matter of internal politics, where candidates lavishly spread slogans like “power to the people,” “only the people are masters of the state’s fate,” “corruption is death,” “inflation will be defeated,” “life will become better,” and so on to the electorate. There are situations when the results of elections also partially change the foreign policy emphases of the winning politicians, although before the vote they had said quite the opposite with a menacing look…

“Only if” is the key phrase in what Ukraine is asking for next, in terms of planes, tanks, you name it – in spite of the cruel reality that they are far behind on the “technological treadmill” and technology transfer. The latest hand me down, often obsolete military hardware will not make an “iota of difference” in the final outcome.  They all know this too, the West knows, Defense Contractors know, soldiers on the front know—and the pilots know best of all. It is not only about planes…

In May this year at a meeting in Japan, the G7 development finance institution (DFI) decided to create the Ukraine Investment Platform. At the heart of the idea is a good cause – to help rebuild Ukraine. If you look at it from the outside, there is no problem, the development banks, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), are doing what they should be doing, which is restoring and developing the economy. But this is only at first glance. In fact, the entire involvement in financing Ukraine on the part of the EBRD and other…