Do y’all read the articles before commenting?

Underlining the difficulty Europe could have in summoning a united response, some member states, including Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Romania, said they were unhappy that the Paris meeting was not a full EU summit.

“On a symbolic level, the organisers of the Paris summit show to the world that even within the EU, not all states are treated equally,” Slovenia’s pro-European president, Nataša Pirc Musar, said in a statement.

I’m what the culture’s feeling. I just speak on it because we’ve been eating this shit for so long, but no one seems to notice and no one seems to care.

I just invited you (well, presumably, the Romanian government) to do that. And also mentioned how that’s kind of a foot in the mouth moment:

I can’t disprove that I’m part of the Romanian government without revealing personally identifiable information. This is called arguing in bad faith and violates the rules of this community. Read the tab on your right. Furthermore, this is an attack on my character, not my argument.

You can’t decided on a “what” question, only on a concrete proposal. A plan. Can you field such a thing? Do you have it somewhere in a drawer? Why have a prominent, high-stakes summit if there’s nothing to decide. Press will be there, expectations high, results are expected. So make sure you can deliver results. Things must be hashed out beforehand using the usual diplomatic channels.

You are speaking nonsense. If we had to have a plan precooked before we could be invited, what’s the point of the brainstorming session? Did all those 8 countries have a fucking plan too?

Do you want UK boots next to EU boots on Ukrainian ground? Then include the UK. It can’t be a EU summit because the UK is included. It must be done before the EU thing so we know what the UK is ok with, what not, what its whole idea of the thing is. Outside perception wise, this summit (as opposed to diplomats having a zoom call) is about signalling: The UK is in the fray.

If it’s just about signaling that the UK is in the fray, why invite a bunch of EU members to the backdoor meeting? We would have seen each other in the regularly scheduled summit, right?

Oh. Good one. But the reason is simple: Because Turkey is a giant PITA both-sides’ing the whole thing. You’ll never get a firm stance out of them, for the simple reason that they don’t do firm stances. They juggle. “Zero problems with any neighbour to bring about the justice that Allah commanded” and they do consider Russia a neighbour.

They consider Russia a client, not a neighbour. Much like anyone else who is willing to dish out some money. I’m not saying they’re morally correct. I’m saying that they are strategically relevant and yet were not invited.

Not terribly relevant right now, no. It’s not like Turkey wouldn’t be selling them… or that Ukraine didn’t, by now, have actually equally capable to superior drone tech themselves.

We’re brainstorming, right? If America isn’t selling drones anymore, gotta get 'em from somewhere. You’re just arrogantly writing off a supplier.

No you’re a drunken land bridge to Greece with a language without grammatical exceptions, because for there to be exceptions there would have to be rules in the first place. If you want to be useful right now, yes, do summit with EU neighbours and Moldova and non-EU Balkans, then bring that to the EU table as France will bring the UK’s stance to the table.

Your overt bigotry aside, I bring forth to you again the question, if it’s just about signaling that the UK is in the fray, why invite a bunch of EU members to the backdoor meeting? Much less ignore a bunch of other EU members.

OK so at this point you have sufficiently demonstrated my point. It was never about strategic relevance, because then Romania, Bulgaria and Greece would have been invited. If it was about being in the EU, then they wouldn’t have invited the UK. If it was about military might, they would have invited Turkey. What I can only surmise from here on is the fact that we in Eastern Europe were never part of the equation. We are only here as a buffer. They could have invited our reps just for show, but they couldn’t be assed to do that.

OK if they’re a dime a dozen, then why not drop a dime and call a god damn EU summit? The agenda is pretty fucking clear, no? What are we doing about Ukraine? Why leave us in the cold? The fact that the UK is invited but Eastern EU isn’t is so fucking insane. Actually, let’s go a step further. Why wasn’t Turkey invited? It’s not EU and Erdogan is a piece of shit, sure, but I’m betting those Bayraktar drones would prove pretty useful during wartime, no? Add to that the fact that it also shares the Black Sea with Ukraine. Really ask yourself the question: What was the criteria for an invitation? The UK was invited so it’s not about being in the EU. All of Eastern EU + Turkey wasn’t invited, so it must not be about military might and strategic relevance. So what are the criteria?

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: If you want a united EU, then stop treating us as if we’re just a buffer zone between Western Europe and Russia. Enough is enough.

Be that as it may, it’s way out in Western Europe. The question was whether those countries have military offerings. The answer is yes, by virtue of proximity. Furthermore the Hellenic Army is significantly larger and the combined weapons manufacturing industry of the Balkans is nothing to scoff at. It just boils down to the fact that if Ukraine falls, we in Eastern Europe are next, but no one fucking gives a shit. Cannon fodder for the West.

Did you just call the meeting where EU decides their approach to the conflict in Ukraine with waning American support a fucking brainstorming session? This is not fantasy football. People’s lives are at stake, both in Ukraine and otherwise. If the world wants for the EU to show a united front, then why not have a fucking summit, instead of cherry-picking?

Adding to my answer, it is just as I said. The reps of only those 8 countries were invited, plus Ursula von der Leyen, Antonio Costa and Mark Rutte. This is not an EU summit. That’s the entire problem.

Aight sick, so why invite anyone? We’re all NATO in the EU, right? Just have Macron, Antonio Costa, Ursula von der Leyen and Mark Rutte in the room.

Poland is officially considered Central Europe, but sure, why play semantics? Let’s call it Eastern Europe. This would be an even better reason to invite all other Eastern Europe reps. Why just invite one, right?

As far as I can surmise from the article, no. No one else was even invited.

Does Spain? Or are they just bringing the fucking paella for the meeting?

Look up the size of the Hellenic Army. Notice that Romania borders with Ukraine. Notice that Bulgaria and Romania share the Black Sea with it.

The whole world cries for a united EU and yet we never get a seat at the table. Sorry for being annoyed by the hypocrisy a little.

The leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council and the Nato secretary general are expected to attend.

Discussing Ukraine crisis, but doesn’t invite Romania, Bulgaria, Greece or any Balkan country for that matter. Love it. Why would Euroscepticism be on the rise? Why would far-right parties be on the up-and-up? Why would people be turning more Z?

Call out America for discussing the conflict without involving Ukraine (as you rightfully should), but then do basically the same thing with literally everyone in Eastern Europe. Fucking hypocrites.

Edit:

Let this thread be a demonstration of the fact that Western Europe has always seen us of Eastern Europe as nothing more than uneducated barbarians. They will judge the American harshly for their treatment of minorities, but they will never exercise the same level of criticism to their treatment of their own neighbors, let alone their own minority groups. I don’t agree with much of what Slavoj Žižek says, but what he said back in 1996 rings true even now, which is that they will always see us as beneath them.

Increase the price of the product, prepare for less clients and weather the storm. We’re all eating a free market-sourced shit sandwich out here.

Indeed. It’s a lot to put on Canada and Mexico, but such is the situation. You’re the world’s first line of defense against the McReich.

I’ll do my part by buying your exports the most I can, especially if the other option is to buy from America. If there’s anything else you think we can do to help even on an individual level, please share.

I agree, but something has to give. It behooves the world to treat current version of Repubs as the 2nd 3rd Reich. Appeasement concessions is what they’re looking for. As such, it’s on Canada & Mexico to establish robust trade partnerships that don’t include the putrid carcass of Uncle Sam that’s being marionetted by that orange psychopath.

The worst case scenario here was complete capitulation. Chamberlain’s appeasement policies didn’t work and neither would bending the knee to Herr Drumpf.

Now double down. Tariffs on Teslas and ban X (the everything app (f.k.a. Twitter)).

You’re giving Elmo too much credit as this Machiavellian character. Ordinary capitalist. Appeasing your investors is the most common commercial reason. It’s just that advertisers can’t really provide twitter with business anymore on account of his bigoted optics, but dangerous governments can.

He’s so transparent with his intentions, it’s embarrassing. The only explanation of removing your own tool to combat misinformation is because it does not align with your own interests. There’s no way to spin that fact in a positive light and yet there will still be people using twitter. It’s actually getting really fucking hard to not be a misanthrope.

Writing is firmly on the wall, gang. All I see is patch notes for the wars for arable land meta.