‘Fuck the EU’ Is Not the Problem

To always say the right thing, to keep composure in every situation — that is utopian. If a secretary of state at the U.S. Department of State says something vulgar in the supposed intimacy of a telephone call, it means, for a start, a little astonishingly: Diplomats are people. “Fuck the EU” slipped out of Victoria Nuland’s mouth in a discussion with the American ambassador in Ukraine, Geoffery Pyatt. The recording of her conversation was made public and everyone got upset — predictable, but basically ridiculous.

Americans might be certified with a culturally conditioned aversion to that evil F-word in public. At the same time, they love it. In this situation, it primarily proves how emotionally the diplomat represents her position. That’s what everyone wants in politics: passion and clarity.

Another finding from the conversation: Phones were bugged — because of Edward Snowden, nobody wonders about that anymore. The Americans should be the last to be genuinely upset over it. And the others? Please don’t also get upset. Rather, the U.S. asked how this could have happened. Were the diplomats careless and speaking over an unsecure connection? Or did someone hack the encryption? They should be worried about that.

And who was so bold — or so clever — not only to listen to, but also release the conversation? The Russians, say the Americans. And in fact, they don’t risk a lot with this assumption.

Russia, the self-appointed protector of Ukraine, uses any means these days to further bind the “renegade” states of the former Soviet Union to itself — for economic reasons, as well as its ambition to remain a world power. Part of it is the oft-voiced propaganda that the protests in Kiev were an attempted coup d’état controlled from abroad. And that’s the reason for the attempt to discredit and split the Western “opponents.” The EU and U.S. should be interested in coordinating strategies; if the F-word affair drives a wedge between the EU and U.S., the Russians will be happy.

“Fuck the Ukrainian people”

One must clarify all that before one turns towards the contents of the conversation. Since its release is so useful to the Russians, it should be enjoyed with caution. Even if Americans have not questioned whether the recording is authentic, it doesn’t show the complete conversation, which means it could have been edited to exaggerate the desired effect.

The remainder of the recording suits the Russians even more than the F-word. If Nuland and Pyatt discuss the possible composition of a new government after Yanukovych, they create a fatal impression of not being a well-intentioned mediator who does everything in its power to end the crisis peacefully, caring only about the interests of the Ukrainian population. The diplomats could have also said, “fuck the Ukrainian people.” In this way, holding it against the Russians for intervening in the affairs of other countries and wanting to bring them under their own control loses credibility.

Oh well, and the EU? For them, Nuland’s resounding criticism that Europeans have not put enough pressure on Ukraine is certainly not surprising. A second recorded conversation, between high-ranking German EU diplomat Helga Schmid and Jan Tombinski, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, proves it: Americans would spread the idea that the Germans are “too weak,” “too soft,” and that they are stronger because they were quick to decide on sanctions, said Schmidt.

One doesn’t have to be particularly creative to accuse the EU of having long underestimated the development in Ukraine, and for being slow to find a constructive attitude. But, if the Russians want to make the crisis a geopolitical showdown, then it is good to heed what Tombinski answered to Schmidt: “We are not competing about who acts stronger, we have other instruments” — better coordination between Americans and Europeans cannot hurt.