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2004-11-24 Europe

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Posted by anonymous2u 2004-11-24 12:52:28 AM|| || Front Page|| [11130 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I stand corrected. Time to stand up to Putin, put the pressure on, and hard. He's got nowhere to turn on this one. Chirac won't help him, and the Chinese don't care. This will not stand.

Posted by lex 2004-11-24 11:51:27 AM|| 2004-11-24 11:51:27 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 As Anne Applebaum notes in today's column, aptly named The New Iron Curtain:

Polls taken before and after the vote showed a large margin of support for Viktor Yushchenko, a pro-Western liberal. Nevertheless, victory has been declared for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow candidate. He has already received warm congratulations from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who backed him with praise, money and, possibly, some advice on how to steal elections. It can't be a coincidence that if the Ukrainian election is settled in Moscow's favor, it will mark the third such dubious vote in Russia's "sphere of influence" in the past two months, following the polls in Belarus and the separatist province of Abkhazia, not counting the irregularities that were belatedly uncovered in the election of Putin himself.

And Pooty wants to sell his $? Let's sell our rubles.

Given this and the Chinese moves of late, it is apparent that some real tectonic shifts are underway. It is good to know we will still have the Aussies next to us when it's done. Let's hope the Brits are too. If that's all, it's enough.

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2004-11-24 12:11:57 PM|| 2004-11-24 12:11:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Don't forget the Poles. They have a very strong interest in ensuring Ukraine-- western Ukraine, at a minimum-- not fall back into the Sov er Russian orbit.

Posted by lex 2004-11-24 12:15:14 PM|| 2004-11-24 12:15:14 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Yes, the Poles, too (although they like Russia have a massive job ahead of them cleaning up corruption in order to run with the pack of UK, Aussies, etc).

Posted by Jules 187 2004-11-24 12:17:48 PM|| 2004-11-24 12:17:48 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Nice graphic - a surprise meter at danger would have also worked.

Instapundit has this link on the Poles:

Posted by anonymous2u 2004-11-24 12:30:26 PM|| 2004-11-24 12:30:26 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Well, there was a link, I did it wrong. Sorry.

Posted by anonymous2u 2004-11-24 12:31:06 PM|| 2004-11-24 12:31:06 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Chrenkoff has the Polish reaction

"During a press conference in Presidential Palace, President [Kwasniewski] announced that he'll be immediately contacting [the outgoing Ukrainian] President Leonid Kuczma. Kwasniewski wants the negotiations [between the two presidential candidates] to take place in the presence of representatives of the Council of Europe and the European Union...

"Kwasniewski is the first of the EU leaders to speak out about the Ukrainian election... Dialogue, yes - violence, no, Kwasniewski repeated twice. And what will you do, Mr President, if Kuczma rejects your initiative? Will Poland still recognize the election result? asked journalists. Kwasniewski refused to answer.

"President Kwasniewski also said that 'right from the start, Poland was of the opinion that these elections are the exam of Ukrainian democracy'... According to the President, Ukraine failed that exam...

"Kwasniewski, recalling Polish's long-standing policy towards Ukraine, said that Polish aim was always to bring Ukraine closer to the EU and NATO. He admitted that this policy had not found any takers [in the West]. He underlined the fact that many Western countries prefer to 'sacrifice relations with one country for the sake of relations with another'."

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2004-11-24 12:33:45 PM|| 2004-11-24 12:33:45 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Who's the biggest oil producer in the world? Hint: it isn't Saudi Arabia.
Yup, it's Russia. With oil prices at an all time high, money is just poring into the country. It won't be long, I'm afraid, before Russia is once again a military rival of the U.S. , if not an economic one.

Posted by BlueMeanie 2004-11-24 12:36:02 PM|| 2004-11-24 12:36:02 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Yup, it's Russia

Get off the crack pipe, it ain't good for you.

Posted by Mhz 2004-11-24 1:32:32 PM|| 2004-11-24 1:32:32 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 ABC radio news reported there might be a "do-over."

Powell just called into question the election result, didn't meet "international standards."

Posted by anonymous2u 2004-11-24 2:01:30 PM|| 2004-11-24 2:01:30 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 BlueMeanie is sort of correct. The second largest oil reserve in the world lies in Siberia. Only problem, it ain't developed and the attempts to develop it are slow at best. Money is not really pouring in, but companies are trying to develop there. Most of the money is in the form of hardware and not really adding to the economy.

Posted by mmurray821 2004-11-24 5:17:20 PM|| 2004-11-24 5:17:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Outside the middle east, Russia is number 2 behind Venezuela in reserves. The largest unconventional oil reserves (tar sands) are in Canada. In terms of production, Russia is indeed first (outside the ME). Source: National Geographic.

Posted by Rafael 2004-11-24 6:31:53 PM|| 2004-11-24 6:31:53 PM|| Front Page Top

11:47 Kalle (kafir forever)
00:02 Kalle (kafir forever)
00:00 Bomb-a-rama
23:51 Rafael
23:48 Brett_the_Quarkian
23:46 Atomic Conspiracy
23:46 Kalle (kafir forever)
23:45 Bomb-a-rama
23:21 Beau
23:11 Kalle (kafir forever)
23:09 Capt America
23:06 Capt America
23:02 BillH
22:59 BillH
22:54 Verlaine
22:50 Verlaine
22:48 2b
22:48 2b
22:38 anon2
22:35 True German Ally
22:32 Laurence of the Rats
22:31 phil_b
22:23 Angie Schultz
22:05 lex