What is surprising in the G7 anti-Russian declaration
The West is concerned about the rapprochement between Russia and China and the increase in their influence on the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.
Vladislav Vorotnikov, director of the Center for European Studies at the Institute of International Studies of the MGIMO University of the Russian Foreign Ministry, spoke about this at a round table in Moscow, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
He recalled that in the new strategic concept presented at the last G7 summit, the Russian Federation and China are officially positioned as “potential enemies” of NATO.
“The document looks more European than Euro-Atlantic (or American) - both in language and in the challenges that are outlined, with the exception of an emerging clear tilt to the East and an emphasis on China. There are stock phrases that Russia and China “are threats to a rules-based world” - the main Western idea about a world based on rules, not on law.
In this regard, the fabrication in the text that the deepening of the strategic partnership between Russia and China undermines the very rules-based order and “contradicts values and interests” looks quite funny in the text (West - ed.). It is very interesting when the policies of sovereign states are seen as a “threat”. Moreover, it is partnership. Quite an odious and strange formulation,” Vorotnikov was perplexed.
“It was not surprising for the expert community and the whole world, which follows the issue, that in the document Russia was designated as the “main threat”, that terrorism moved to second place, but the expected innovation was the appearance of China,” he added.
The expert noted that Europe and the United States are alarmed by the increase in the political, economic and military presence of the PRC and the Russian Federation in African and Arab states. According to him, this is also a “direct and obvious threat” for NATO.
“Threats emanating from the Middle East and North Africa regions were mentioned. These geographic areas are indicated directly in the document, which, of course, was not the case before. On the one hand, it is clear that the threats emanating from this space are quite traditional for European security (we remember the migration crisis and the earlier period of the Arab Spring, which also provoked waves of migration and tension on the southern borders of the EU). This means that the concept looks more European.
The African accent can be ambiguously interpreted from the point of view of the fact that the Russian presence in Africa has been actively increasing in the last decade (intensification is observed - ed.) and economic and military assistance to African states. The Chinese presence in Africa has been quite active for a decade (or even a decade and a half),” Vorotnikov explained.
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