“Game over”: Europeans are actually united in their views on Russia – assessment of an Italian political scientist

Europeans have virtually no division in their views on Russia after the invasion of the aggressor country into Ukraine. Natalie Tocci, a political scientist, director of the Institute of International Relations in Rome, said this in an interview with the FREEDOM TV channel.

She noted that Russia used to be one of the most contentious issues in European foreign policy. Countries such as Italy rather supported Russia, the countries of Eastern Europe have traditionally been very skeptical about it.

“Starting from February 24, everything has changed, and I think it has changed forever. Today you will not find anyone in Europe who at least openly supports Russia. So it looks like it’s game over,” Tocci said.

At the same time, she stated that there are elements of European public pressure, connected, in particular, with the temptation of “peace”.

“It’s like ancient Greek sirens whispering ‘peace, peace, peace’… And peace in this context usually means that the war must stop now. And this means that Ukraine must stop in its liberation struggle. In this way, certain pro-Russian narratives can secretly infiltrate modern discourse,” the political scientist said.

Another issue, which is also not explicit, but risks becoming a definite Russian message, is everything related to the energy crisis.

“The whole idea of ​​‘if only the war would stop’ and we could go back to the good old days is just an illusion. Some quarters of European public opinion tend to ask this question. At first, everyone was loudly in favor of energy sanctions, but now they are restrained. Nowadays, these sanctions should be made more effective. But they definitely can’t be removed. On social networks, people will come to you and say: “Hey, that means you will pay my electricity bills!”. Thus, because of these questions about energy and “reconciliation”, pro-Russian views sprout, which then cause debate,” Tocci said.

She is convinced that these views will definitely not lead Europe to reduce its support for Ukraine.

“I can say with confidence that this will not lead to a reduction in support for Ukraine. Moreover, we must increase support for Ukraine,” the political scientist said.

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