World Prepares for Russian Aggression -The Russian Bear is On the Prowl

Douglas V. Gibbs / Canada Free Press

In 2008, Russia gained control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia from neighboring Georgia, and then last month, on the anniversary of occupying Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a 25 year Treaty of Alliance and Integration, solidifying control over South Ossetia.

The treaty handed border control to Russia, which would also formally take charge of South Ossetia’s economy and military. Residents of the region would also have easier access to Russian citizenship.  The agreement, according to opponents, violates Georgia’s sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Russia signed a treaty with Abkhazia in November.

In Ukraine, Russia has been fueling a civil war, giving support to separatists that have been directly supplied, and assisted, by Russian personnel and equipment.

In southern Moldova,  a region called Gagauzia has signed a regional cooperation agreement with Russia, an economic agreement that places a lot of focus on Moldova, a small country on the western side of Ukraine.  The agreement with Gaguazia follows the breakaway of the Moldova enclave of Transnistria, a region between Moldova and Ukraine that has self-declared itself its own country long ago, maintaining Russian as its dominant language, and keeping a Russian army base in place.

Threat of Russian expansionism also has other Eastern European countries taking notice

Tucked between Lithuania and Poland, is Kaliningrad, an orphan Russian territory that gives Russia a strategic military location right in the middle of the Baltic States, Poland, and the Scandinavian nations across the Baltic Sea.  Poland’s concerns have led to the vulnerable member of the European Union building border towers.

The threat of Russian expansionism also has other Eastern European countries taking notice, and preparing for the possibility of war.  While American military vehicles patrol the Russian border in the hopes of reassuring Europe they are safe from Putin’s aggression, citizens in the border nations are training for the worst just in case.

Poland is giving civilians military training in case there is an invasion.  Neighboring Lithuania is restoring the draft and teaching citizens what to do in case of war. Nearby Latvia has plans to give university students military training next year.

While NATO remains the primary alliance designed to protect the region, the failure of the United States to properly recognize the aggression of Russia and respond with what would normally be America’s military might (and what is becoming, under President Obama, America’s dwindling military might) has eastern Europe realizing they may have to fight off being a target of Russia themselves.

The fighting in Ukraine is not far away, Kaliningrad is next door, and Russia has shown the willingness to fly military aircraft at will around the Baltic Sea area.

The Poles, in particular, believe they have grounds for needing to be on alert.  Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been shy about singling out Poland, a U.S. ally, calling the former Soviet satellite a prime enemy in the struggle over Ukraine, accusing Poland of training “Ukrainian nationalists” and instigating unrest in the region.