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The reason so many countries in eastern Europe want to join NATO is because they want protection from the Putin regime in Moscow. They rightly fear Russian bullying, interference and occupation, just as Vladimir Putin has effected in Georgia, eastern Ukraine, Crimea and now the rest of Ukraine. If NATO, the European Union and the rest of the world had really stood up to past Russian meddling and invasions in Ukraine, among other places, and Putin’s assassinations, jailing of political prisoners and repression at home, then we probably wouldn’t be in this present dire situation.
Brutal thugs like Putin and Hitler, Stalin and others before him don’t stop unless they are forcefully challenged and stopped. The West and rest of the world community should have learnt that appeasement, giving in and pleading get nowhere with brutal dictators like Putin, Xi and others like them. It is wonderfully heartening to see that people and nations throughout the world are rallying to support and help Ukraine at this crucial time. This is a fight not just for the right of the Ukrainian people’s independence and freedom, but a vital turning point for Europe and the world to protect life, human rights and liberty everywhere. Other dictators and would-be authoritarians are watching on to see what they can or can’t get away with. We must rise to this historic and testing occasion.
Steven Katsineris, Hurstbridge
Eastern nations want freedom too
Julie Szego (Opinion, 2/3) says it’s relevant to question the eastern expansion of NATO in the 1990s. Well, joining NATO was not compulsory – the countries joined it by choice. The Soviets gave Eastern Europe no choice when they created the Eastern Bloc social experiment in the 1950s. Why would these countries even consider what their former jailer was thinking?
Murray Horne, Cressy
Attack shows NATO is working
It has been argued by many that somehow the West has provoked Russia’s faltering blitzkrieg by welcoming former members of the Soviet Union into its democratic fold. That these vibrant nations have rejected fealty to a dismal kleptocracy and sought the protection of NATO to dissuade Russia from its clear intention to grab them back is indisputable.
Russia has shown its hand by its unwarranted fomenting of trouble and invasion of an adjacent independent country, Ukraine, that is not a NATO member. This treachery confirms that being a member of NATO is a significant restraint on Russia’s territorial ambitions.
It’s a pity Ukraine was not admitted to the club earlier. Sadly, its fate is now likely to match that of the satrapy set up by Putin in Belarus.
Peter Barry, Marysville
Fighting is foolish
I believe Volodymyr Zelensky is a fool, not a hero (“Volodymyr Zelensky, the first wartime hero of the social media age”, The Age, 2/3). There’s no such thing as a “war hero”. The war hero is the man covered in the blood of others, notably innocent women, children and the infirm. To be a hero he needed to say: “Be like the bamboo, bend but do not break. Offer no resistance, let the wind blow through you.” Then there would be no killing, no begging for arms from the all-too-ready arms dealers, no emergency loans from the all-too-ready bankers. No romantic photos of bare-chested men and newlyweds vowing to die for nothing.
John Laurie, Riddells Creek
True leadership
The old saying “Cometh the hour, cometh the man” must surely apply to the courageous President of the Ukraine. Zelensky has shown he understands true leadership by leading his nation from the front at great personal risk, during its hour of greatest peril. Putin however will be forever condemned as a tyrant who shed innocent blood to satisfy his own territorial ambitions.
Peter Curtis, Werribee South
THE FORUM
Deliver on your promise
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Tuesday that Australia would provide visas for up to 3000 displaced Ukrainians, a most welcome gesture until he added the caveat that the visas would be for only three years. What drives this Prime Minister to always have open ended conditions? We can remember well his offer, to resettle Afghan refugees who supported our troops in Afghanistan, but how many have come? We also remember only recently the Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews saying that talks were well under way to resettle 150 asylum seekers in New Zealand, some of whom have been in detention for many years. The New Zealand offer has been on the table for this term of government and beyond, but these refugees are still languishing in detention centres in Australia and elsewhere. The Prime Minister and his team of ministers are great on announcements, particularly so when an election is pending, but as always there are caveats attached, and are quickly forgotten.
Bruce MacKenzie, South Kingsville
How can we turn away?
As we watch the fleeing families of Ukraine and their desperate attempts to reach a country that will give them a safe haven from an invading force, we feel a sense of gratitude for the nations accepting them. We do not expect that any of these people would be rejected because they were not able to apply for visas from the various embassies before fleeing; nor do we expect that those who flee on foot, rather than by car or by train, should be rejected. Why then do we accept our government’s arbitrary criteria for people fleeing from war-torn Syria, the terror of the Taliban in Afghanistan, persecution in Iran and the wars and famines in the African continent?
Eileen Hayes, Northcote
Prioritise Australians
As much as I am horrified by what is happening in Ukraine, surely events here in Australia at this moment in time are far more important for Australia. It’s good that we have been supporting Ukraine with sanctions against Russia and giving money to buy arms from other countries – but it is a mere drop in the ocean when compared with what many other countries are doing. Yes – there is an election looming and it is good for the incumbents to show their anger at Russia and splash money to help Ukraine.
But Queensland and New South Wales are suffering from unprecedented flooding (“Ballina to evacuate, Queensland braces”, The Age, 2/3) and face a miserable few months ahead of them. They need all the help they can get. For some people, the disaster is so severe they likely will never recover. Recent amounts of money promised to the Ukraine should be diverted to help the poor flood victims.
John Cummings, Anglesea
Weapons of destruction
The Western nations have refused to intervene militarily in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Instead they are providing military equipment to support and prolong a heroic stand by Ukrainian defence forces and militia against an overwhelming and ruthless invader. This appeals emotionally as the right thing to do but the consequences are likely to be devastating for those involved and for those who have fled, hoping one day to return. A Ukraine that is in a pitiful ruin similar to Syria following the ″Arab spring″ is a reminder of what could ensue. The ability to maintain clarity and play the long game is critical to statesmanship. Political pressure, tough sanctions and nonviolent passive resistance are tedious and frustrating to employ but they are likely to be the best bet in the long term.
Peter McCarthy, Mentone
Who are we to judge?
Some of our political leaders seem to have forgotten our role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a war of choice based on a campaign of lies and deception against a far away country that posed no threat to us. We are quick to boycott everything Russian but there have been calls to outlaw BDS, the boycott of Israel launched by Palestinian civil society in 2005. We pretend that we are different to Putin, but we are not.
Shane McCartin, Macleod
IOC not consistent
I question the International Olympic Committee executive board decision to withdraw invitations to Russian and Belarus athletes, including the upcoming Beijing Para Olympics, for invading Ukraine. The IOC also withdrew (for the first time since 1975) the gold Olympic Order medals awarded to Vladimir Putin (2001), Dmitry Chernyshenko and Dmitry Kozak (2014). Xi Jinping will get to keep his as did Robert Mugabe. Why the IOC didn’t take similar actions to withdraw invitations to US and Australia athletes when Afghanistan and Iraq were invaded unprovoked, also contravening the Olympic Truce, needs answering.
Leon Zembekis, Reservoir
Not so innocent
Your correspondent claims that the Soviet Union lost millions of lives in two world wars that initially didn’t involve them (“The two views of Putin,” Letters, 2/3). The USSR didn’t exist in 1914, but the general mobilisation of the Russian Empire, including against Germany, led to a general mobilisation of the German Empire, and its declarations of war. The Soviet Union was directly involved in the start of the Second World War with its pact with Hitler and its agreement to also invade and partition Poland, taking the Baltic states along the way. And then it invaded Finland during the winter of 1940-41.
Wayne Robinson, Kingsley
Neo-Nazism a real worry
Julie Szego (Comment, 2/3) reminds us that one of the worst massacres of the Holocaust took place in Ukraine. Over a two-day period, at Babi Yar near Kyiv, the Nazis massacred close to 34,000 people, with the help of local collaborators. The SS was apparently most successful in recruiting locals in the city of Lviv, then a part of Poland, now a city in Ukraine.
Ms Szego infers that Ukraine clearly doesn’t face a Nazism problem today because it is led by a Jew. Yet, the BBC, among others, has brought attention to extreme-right and neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine that are armed and have political influence. Not just Europeans, but Australians have reason to be concerned by this.
The Australian terrorist who murdered 51 people in Christchurch was reportedly inspired by the Ukrainian neo-Nazi group, the Azov Battalion, now integrated with the Ukraine military and fighting with them against the Russian-speaking people of eastern Ukraine. Denying the existence and power of neo-Nazi armed groups in Ukraine is not in anyone’s interest.
Susan Day, Viewbank
Perspective of war
As Ms Szego suggests, threats to freedom are not all equal. The aggression involved in Russia firing alleged thermobaric rocket bombs at Kyiv is considerably greater than the offence someone may feel as a result of a comment they regard as discrimination against members of a marginalised group such as a racial or ethnic minority. This disparity is even greater if the comment, like that of Jeffrey Lieberman cited by Szego, was actually intended to be a compliment. They are called micro aggressions for a reason and should be kept in perspective.
Rod Wise, Surrey Hills
Taking sides
The property lobby made a fortune when Matthew Guy was planning minister in the last state Coalition government. Presumably they were just attempting to return the favour (“How fear took an axe to housing tax”, The Age, 2/3).
Phil Alexander, Eltham
Breaking the rules
Do Victorian drivers know the road rules? The answer seems that they don’t or that they choose to ignore them for it seems that they do not know what a traffic lane is nor what an orange light means, or that a continuous single white line has the same meaning as a double line, and that a bicycle lane cannot be used as a slip lane and that texting and using a mobile phone while driving is clearly illegal.
David Eames-Mayer, Balwyn
Music brings us alive
Paavali Jumppanen, the new artistic director of the Australian National Academy of Music, speaks about the vital importance of people connecting through singing and playing music together (“Even in wartime, music matters”, The Age, 2/3). As a chorister and flautist, I couldn’t agree more. Being back at choir rehearsals, even though we are singing in masks, it feels like we are coming alive again and we are connecting in ways that can’t happen online. Even while there is so much despair and uncertainty in the world, making music together brings hope, our hearts and souls are warmed and our spirits lifted.
Joy Hayman, Blackburn North
Anthem should inspire
Nick Miller writes about the power of music, giving the example of the “flood of videos of Ukrainians singing and playing their national anthem”. But can you picture a group of Aussies singing Advance Australia Fair if we were in the same situations? Hopefully we will never be in the same situation as Ukraine but I think we need a song that unites us and makes us proud to be Australians.
Robin Jensen, Castlemaine
Lunchbox missteps
Fret not, Robert Moran (“Mystical trail to lunchbox gold”, The Age 1/3). It is a rite of parental passage that, in your endeavours to be creative, you will send at least one school lunch which will remain seared into your child’s memory forever. I am still hearing about the Vegemite and onion sandwiches, 25 years later. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Claire Merry, Wantirna
Lunch fuss
Whatever happened to cheese and Vegemite sandwiches? My mother wouldn’t have known how to pronounce spanakopita, let alone spell it. The biggest treat I got was being given a shilling and going to the shops to get three potato cakes and six pence worth of chips. I still survived.
David Kitchen, Violet Town
Illustration: Matt GoldingCredit:
And another thing
Floods
With climate change accelerating, aren’t statements like “one in a 500-year event” meaningless?
Don Stewart, Port Fairy
Two years ago during the devastating bushfires we were told it wasn’t the time to ask about climate change. It’s time.
Ray Evans, Wantirna South
Floods? Wait till the Antarctic ice starts to melt.
Jaya Naidu, Merrijig
Noah, where the hell are you?
Sam Bando, St Kilda East
War in Ukraine
In times of mounting disasters, it is heartening that people around the world condemn and act against Putin’s war. Humanity can prevail.
Glenda Johnston, Queenscliff
How bad can things get in Ukraine? Remember Grozny.
Andrew Rennie, Bentleigh
Even if you accept the premise that Russia is pushing back against NATO expansion, there can be no justification for the killing of innocents. We must move to an understanding that all war is indefensible.
Pat Hockey, Clunes
Maybe Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace should be renamed Special Operations and Peace.
Ed Veber, Malvern East
Putin’s attacks on Ukraine once and for all prove that without the US soldier dying in the tens of thousands the United Nations could not keep the peace between a blind man and his guide; nor unite a pair of late adolescent virgin rabbits.
Howard Hutchins, Chirnside Park
When Putin witnessed his man in Washington, the president of the US, incite his mob of storm-troopers to topple its seat of democracy, he knew the coast was clear for him to re-unify the Soviet Union to its former glory.
Henry Herzog, St Kilda East
It would need Biden’s approval for Ukraine to back down from joining NATO. But that’s what’s needed.
Chris Hooper, Castlemaine
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