Thierry Wolton explained that the Kremlin’s objective is to regain control over the former Soviet territories, and this strategy represents the main threat to European security.

“Russia wishes to regain the borders of the Soviet state. Russia’s desire to annex countries is the greatest danger happening in the Western world. Putin is the biggest danger Europe has known since Hitler. He has a will to conquer and a visceral hatred of the West. He detests the West, believes that Western values have brought down the Soviet Union,” said Thierry Wolton.

At the same time, he asserts that Vladimir Putin’s statements about the dissolution of the Soviet Union partly explain the war unleashed against Ukraine. According to Wolton, the Kremlin leader interprets the collapse of the USSR as a defeat caused by the Western world and is trying to retaliate.

“He said at the beginning of his reign, it is a reign because he has been in power for 25 years, that the collapse of the USSR is the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. How can you say that when this century has seen two world wars? The war in Ukraine is Putin’s desire for revenge against the West, which he considers responsible for the fall of the USSR,” said the French journalist and historian.

The video interview: “Post-communism, a brake on the world’s civilizational development” is produced by the IPN Press Agency, in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation Romania, the Corneliu Coposu Foundation, and the Hanns Seidel Foundation Republic of Moldova.

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According to Thierry Wolton, the European Union is a relatively recent political construction, and its existence should not be viewed as an irreversible fact. “We should worry about the future of the European Union. The European Union is a very new construction, which is less than half a century old. 50-60 years is very little in relation to history. The European Union, which is a new phenomenon, can disappear as it appeared, even if it is a very good phenomenon, unmatched in the world. The EU can die at some point. Unlike Russia, the USA, France, countries that have roots. The European Union is made up of different cultures, which often do not agree with each other, and this represents a fragility,” said the French writer and journalist.

Furthermore, the writer believes that the decision-making mechanism based on unanimity represents one of the main vulnerabilities of the European Union. He argues that achieving the agreement of all 27 member states is an extremely difficult objective to reach.

“When you ask the 27 countries with different leaders, different thinking, to agree unanimously, it’s something almost impossible. The European Union suffers because of this democracy, although democracy is the best thing humanity has invented so far. The European Union has adopted these structures, but you can’t equate Lithuania and France. Therefore, this unanimity mechanism is a brake,” said the French writer, journalist, and historian, Thierry Wolton.

At the same time, Europeans must be aware of this vulnerability, not to accentuate it, but also to find solutions that would reduce these weaknesses. As an example, Thierry Wolton admitted the need to establish a decision-making center within the EU, composed of a certain number of countries, which could make binding decisions for all other members and operate on a rotation principle, but without the right to veto. “The right to veto has made the UN Security Council and, to a large extent, the UN as a whole, dysfunctional,” Thierry Wolton stated.

The video interview: “Post-communism, a brake on the civilizational development of the world” is produced by the IPN Press Agency, in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation Romania, the Corneliu Coposu Foundation and the Hanns Seidel Foundation Republic of Moldova.

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According to the French writer, the military defeat of Nazi Germany and the Nuremberg trials made a clear and unanimous condemnation of Nazism possible, unlike communism, which collapsed without going through a similar process of judging the crimes committed.

“Nazism was defeated in war. Communism was not defeated, but collapsed. Nazism was a horror and rightly demonized. In the case of Nazism, there was the Nuremberg trial, in the case of communism, there was no such trial. There is also a memory of the errors of Nazism, thanks to the Jews. This still allows for Nazism to be unanimously condemned today,” said the French writer and journalist.

At the same time, Thierry Wolton believes that the emphasis placed by the international community on the crimes of Nazism has contributed to the marginalization of the memory of the victims of communism. In his opinion, the USSR and its allies promoted the condemnation of Nazism, however avoiding a similar condemnation of communism.

“Nazism has become the standard of global horror. But what is regrettable is that the drama of Nazism has managed to erase the drama of Communism. The USSR and all its accomplices in the world have acted in such a way as to demonize Nazism, but to avoid the demonization of Communism. From my point of view, they are two different ideologies, but they have acted in the same way,” said the French writer, journalist, and historian, Thierry Wolton.

The video interview: “Post-communism, a brake on the civilizational development of the world” is produced by the IPN Press Agency, in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation Romania, the Corneliu Coposu Foundation and the Hanns Seidel Foundation Republic of Moldova.

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According to Thierry Wolton, communism stands out in history for the scale of the human tragedy it caused in a relatively short period of time, without having an equivalent in terms of the number of victims.

“Communism is the worst of all systems that have existed in the history of the world, due to the fact that it has caused an enormous number of victims in a short period of time. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of victims. There is no regime in history and in the world that has killed so many people in such a short time. We can only compare it to slavery, but the number of victims of slavery accumulated over several centuries. However, we do not consider that a victim of one regime is more important than another. A victim remains a victim”, said the French writer and journalist, Thierry Wolton.

At the same time, the author draws attention to the fact that the sufferings caused by communist regimes have not received the same public and historical recognition as those generated by Nazism. In his opinion, preserving the memory of the victims of communism is a moral obligation and a necessary condition for understanding the past.

“The memory of the victims of communism must be preserved. Unfortunately, the memory of the victims of communism has been lost, unlike the memory of the victims of Nazism. I am glad that the victims of Nazism have been recognized, but I regret that such work has not been done regarding communism. We must honestly say, the victims of Nazism overshadow the victims of communism”, Thierry Wolton further stated.

The video interview: “Post-communism, a brake on the civilizational development of the world” is produced by the IPN Press Agency, in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation Romania, the Corneliu Coposu Foundation and the Hanns Seidel Foundation Republic of Moldova.

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