“I know Putin’s two incarnations (faces) and the anxiety I have now is that we are witnessing a third,” said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking at the 7th Delphi Economic Forum.
“What worries me is that there is a third ‘incarnation’ as I can not imagine Putin at the time making such a miscalculation. When you do that, it means you are surrounded by people who do not tell you something you do not want. “Listen,” Tony Blair said, commenting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Russian president’s actions.
He explained that the first time he met the Russian president was in St. Petersburg, where Vladimir Putin focused on the reform of the Russian economy and wanted good relations with the West, while their second meeting was just before the end of his term. , when Putin was apparently surrounded by a group of people with very close control, “he had a much more dictatorial image, he was tough and he did his own calculations.”
“The fact that he believed he would go to Ukraine and the Ukrainians would not fight to defend their territories is a very wrong crisis,” he said, adding that “anyone who meets the new generation of Ukrainians knows they are ready to fight.”
Commenting on whether the West could have done something better in its relations with Russia, he noted that the idea that the West was starting from a position of hostility towards Russia was wrong, on the contrary, there was frustration that it could not be developed. a functional relationship between the two sides. “In recent years, when I am asked about Russia, I answer that I can do analyzes for almost all the countries of the world, but as far as Russia is concerned, I do not know if I should just worry or worry a lot. And today I am obviously worried. very much “, he underlined.
He described what was happening in Ukraine as a tragedy, but said that “eventually we will get out of this situation”, with Putin’s position having been fatally weakened and in the long run Ukraine emerging as a strong, independent country, with a possible path to Europe.
Regarding the Europe-US approach on the occasion of the developments in Ukraine and whether this is a temporary phenomenon or a relationship with perspective, the former British Prime Minister spoke of a “big moment” and estimated that it will last “as “America will see all this not only in the light of Russia but also China and the way the world is developing, and it will realize that the Transatlantic Alliance has a new meaning today.”
Asked to comment on what would happen if Trump or someone like Trump was re-elected, he replied that no matter who the leader is, there will be pressure from American citizens to ensure that there is closeness between the United States and Europe. Although he was reluctant to use the term “permanent” for this relationship of rapprochement between the United States and Europe, he noted that “for the foreseeable future, America and whoever is president will understand the importance of this alliance.”
“I’m worried about populism – the center is the right place to be in politics”
Asked if he was concerned about populism, he said yes, acknowledging that there was populism in Europe in general – and in the UK – and adding that in a situation of right-wing populism versus left-wing populism, the former was always the winner. “This populism of the right, however, is only strengthened when left-wing populism follows its own version,” he said, stressing that the center (center-right and center-left) “is the right place to be in politics.”
He also stated -among other things- that “if you want to protect the Democracy you must make the citizens more involved” and stressed that the call for Democracy today is effectiveness.
An ardent supporter of “Third Street”, Tony Blair, answering the question of the journalist Alexis Papachelas who coordinated the discussion, if the time has come for a “Fourth Street” and what it would look like, answered that “these are essentially the same choices and everything they depend on how you analyze the world today “, while he characterized as” the biggest event of real life in the coming years “the technological development. As he said, the challenge for politics is to see how to use this development constructively.
“Macron has done a good job for France – but the French people will decide”
In the first round of the French presidential election, Tony Blair referred to Emanuel Macron as “doing a good job, making economic changes”, noting that “we need France to be strong” and assessing that a possible Le Pen’s victory “will definitely be a big change and challenge”, noting, however, that it is the French people who will ultimately decide.
Speaking more broadly about politics today, he said that what the West lacks is strategy, long-term planning.
Source: Capital
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