Manfred Weber: Ukraine stand-off incomparable to 1962 Cuba missile crisis

The leader of the centre-right European People’s Party said Russian president Vladimir Putin feared Ukraine succeeding in becoming a democratic state, and the effects this would have on his system of oligarchy back home.

Manfred Weber was fielding questions in a press briefing on Tuesday, where he expressed strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and rejected claims that the West was provoking Putin’s actions on the border of Ukraine.

“What scares Vladimir Putin the most is not NATO soldiers in Ukraine – it is not a part of NATO or the EU currently. What scares Putin is seeing Ukraine succeed as a democratic state... the real threat to Putin are issues of fundamental values, rule of law, and democracy.”

Weber said Putin’s “dictatorship” was a system of oligarchy that went against the idea of freedom.

Weber insisted that Ukraine’s purported membership of NATO was not on the table, given that prospective members cannot join if they are not a functioning democracy and if there is internal conflict.

“Russia cannot say that we are inviting and encouraging this, because that’s not the case,” Weber said. “It’s not a question of Ukraine joining or not joining NATO, because that is not currently on the table. The real issue is of 44 million people living under the threat, under the fear that tomorrow a war can start on their territory.”

Weber restated the importance of respecting the democratic opinion of the Ukrainian people, pointing to the country’s aspirations for EU membership, which are also written into the Ukrainian constitution.

“It's not Putin who decides for Ukraine: that is the basic point of all our debates. This is not up for discussion or negotiation or compromise,” Weber said. “When they decide, we will know based on the votes.”

Weber was queried on how Putin’s reaction to Ukraine’s prospective NATO membership was any different from the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when Russia accepted to withdraw its missile deployment in Cuba.

The EPP leader said the geopolitics of the 1960s were incomparable to the realities of the day, and said the EU did not view Ukraine in terms of zones of influence. “That is over, that was the old Europe. The new Europe is that people voluntarily decide in a democratic competition in which direction they want to go.”

Weber said he had no choice but to stand with Ukrainians: “During the Maidan revolution, I had conversations with youths who told me they simply want the right to a fair trail that is not influenced by oligarchs... I have no choice but to stand with my Ukrainian friends.”