US and EU’s Ukraine strategy ‘has failed entirely’ – Hungarian FM

The strategy that Europe and the US have developed as a response to the Ukraine conflict "has failed entirely," Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The minister touched upon the divisive rhetoric some European officials indulge in when bringing up a potential deployment of Western troops to Ukraine. He called for doing "everything to avoid a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia".

Speaking about the danger of such a development, the minister stressed that "there is no way the Hungarian military will take part in it, there is no way Hungarian territory will host such actions, there is no way a single eurocent of the Hungarian taxpayers will be allocated for it."

Regarding a yet another sanctions package aimed at crumbling Russia, Szijjarto pointed out that the initial draft of anti-Russian sanctions sought to “push Russia to its knees economically."

"Is Russia on its knees? Far from it. Are we close to ending the conflict? Definitely not," he emphasized, adding that, on the contrary, the sanctions had an adverse impact on the EU economy.

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US tries ‘carrot and stick’ to subdue Georgia

Having previously attempted to influence Georgia’s politics by threatening the country with sanctions, the US seems poised to adopt a different approach by promising various incentives if Tbilisi agrees to play ball with Washington.

A new draft bill expected to be introduced in the US Congress this week would offer Georgia “a robust preferential trade regime,” but only if Georgia shows what the US deems “significant and sustained progress towards reinvigorating its democracy,” according to Politico.

Shota Apkhaidze, a political analyst and director of the Center for Islamic Studies of the Caucasus says that the US is employing a classic “carrot and stick” approach towards Georgia.

“It is already clear that they are not our friends, that they are not our partners, seeing what they do, how political processes develop, how they openly meddle in everything, even in street protests and in the political life in Georgia in general,” he says, referring to the US.

After failing to incite unrest in Georgia, the US has shifted strategies, now offering military and economic benefits to secure Georgia's compliance with its demands.

“There is a very important point in the life of every state – the idea of honor and self dignity. If Georgian society, Georgian leadership falls for this handout, it would mean that we sold ourselves out,” Apkhaidze explains.

He notes that, so far, Georgian politicians show no intent to change the country’s foreign and domestic policies in exchange for this handout.

Apkhaidze also describes this US initiative as an attempt to meddle in Georgia’s internal matters, as Washington keeps trying to dissuade Tbilisi from adopting the foreign agents bill.

“A law is passed in a legislative body of a state. In this case, it should take place in the Georgian parliament because the Georgian parliament is elected by the majority of Georgian citizens,” he states.

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