Pekka Kallioniemi<p>This isn’t particularly new. We’ve been here before. Chechnya, <a href="https://defenseofliberty.social/tags/Georgia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Georgia</span></a>, <a href="https://defenseofliberty.social/tags/Crimea" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Crimea</span></a>, <a href="https://defenseofliberty.social/tags/Donbas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Donbas</span></a>, <a href="https://defenseofliberty.social/tags/Syria" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Syria</span></a>. Each time, Europe’s response was weak. Each time, it sent humanitarian <a href="https://defenseofliberty.social/tags/aid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>aid</span></a> and hoped the <a href="https://defenseofliberty.social/tags/Kremlin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Kremlin</span></a> would come to its senses, as if it were just having a tantrum and not executing a long-term imperialist project. Even when <a href="https://defenseofliberty.social/tags/Putin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Putin</span></a> turned Belarus into a vassal state and built military bases along <a href="https://defenseofliberty.social/tags/NATO" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NATO</span></a>’s border, too many in Brussels and Berlin whispered, “Let’s not escalate.”</p>