Editor’s Note: This feature separates Ukraine’s friends from its enemies. The Order of Yaroslav the Wise has been given since 1995 for distinguished service to the nation. It is named after the Kyivan Rus leader from 1019-1054, when the medieval empire reached its zenith. The Order of Lenin was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union, whose demise Russian President Vladimir Putin mourns. It is named after Vladimir Lenin, whose corpse still rots on the Kremlin’s Red Square, more than 100 years after the October Revolution he led.
Ukraine’s Friend of the Week: Zbigniew Rau, the Foreign Minister of Poland
The battle over Nord Stream 2 — the Russian-German gas pipeline project — seems to be reaching its tragic outcome.
The recent compromise between the U.S. and Germany on the project has spelled an end to all hopes of preventing Europe from falling into greater energy dependence on the Kremlin.
With the White House’s spineless consent, the pipeline will be completed, no matter what.
Yet unlike the great powers, there are still countries that are willing to go on fighting, like our friendly neighbor, Poland.
During a July 21 meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, the Polish foreign minister said his country would go on working with Kyiv and other partners to counter security threats caused by Nord Stream 2.
The officials called on all nations in Central and Eastern Europe, which are most vulnerable to Kremlin’s expanding power, to stay together as one, since the continent’s leaders have sold out for Russian money.
“We call on the United States and Germany to demonstrate a proper stance towards the security crisis in our region, in which the only beneficiary is Russia,” the ministers said.
The battle over Nord Stream 2, derided as the “Molotov-Ribbentrop gas pipeline pact,” may be lost, but Eastern Europe continues to resist Russia’s growing sphere of influence.
Our loyal friends and allies deserve another round of praise.
Therefore, Polish minister Rau gets the symbolic decoration of Ukraine’s friend — in the name of his whole country.
Ukraine Foe of the Week: Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
It always aches to call one of the most significant world leaders of our time the foe of our country.
But time and again, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has left us no choice.
As her political epoch draws to an end, Merkel’s legacy casts a dark shadow over Europe. Backed by Russian-friendly political and business interests, she made the ultimate deal with the devil and steamrolled all opposition to it.
In spite of all the promises to the contrary, we know what’s coming. The pipeline is 99% finished. The energy security balance in Eastern Europe will tip into Russia’s hand. Ukraine will lose its gas transit status, which brings it nearly $2 billion a year and restrains the Kremlin’s worst ambitions.
Europe’s strongest leader in nearly two decades could have done so much more to make the region a safer place by saying no to Moscow.
So this is it — Merkel’s selfish victory is going to have long-lasting consequences, and for that, she gets her Order of Lenin, making her one of the most frequent winners of this award.
But let’s not forget that U.S. President Joe Biden also had a role in this dirty business. The deal with Merkel on Nord Stream 2 is his biggest diplomatic failure so far.
When Biden took office, he talked a big game about supporting Ukraine. Many pinned their hopes on him as the president who would stand up to Putin.
But in spite of bipartisan pressure from Congress, in spite of a law specifically calling for sanctions against the project, he decided to waive sanctions to avoid a quarrel with Germany and other NATO allies.
Even though the project has been under construction since 2015, long before Biden was elected president, this surrender without a fight has not shown a good side of him.
