Friday, February 18, 2022
A comment on the situation of Ukraine: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2) At 21 January last the Russian, Iranian and Chinese naval forces conducted joint drills in the Indian Ocean. The broad agreement among foreign affairs observers agreed that this was one more sign of the growing cooperation between these three powers. Those who regularly read the news may have heard of the increasing cooperation between China and Russia or Russia and Iran (in Syria for example). Few may have noticed all the increasing cooperation between all three of them in many areas of joint interest. Quite often Turkey is part of this authoritarian club as well. It’s not some huge conspiracy, it’s an alignment of the agendas of the largest and most aggressive and expansionist totalitarian regimes in a number of areas. This does not mean that they represent a unified agenda as there is friction between them as well. But they have increased and are increasing their cooperation and present that as alternative to the free world. Why starting with this geopolitical expose? Because many Christians in the west seem a bit at a loss in the current situation where there is a credible threat that Russia may invade Ukraine. Quite a number of Christians seem to think that Putin is a ‘defender of Christian values’ and are very critical over western attempts to stop a Russian invasion against Ukraine. Others seem to think that ‘western aggression’ is to blame and that all we need to do is find a peaceful solution. For that reason it is critical to understand what is actually happening and what is actually at stake. First of all it is important to underline that Russia agreed through treaties in 1994 and 1999 that Ukraine is a sovereign nation. So Russia has no right whatsoever to determine the domestic or international policies of Ukraine as that is up to the people of Ukraine and the Parliament and government they elected. Any Russian invasion is therefore unjustified as Ukraine is not threatening Russia. Secondly many take the view that this conflict is about the ‘western interests’ which they view critically. The situation in Ukraine however is not about our view of our western governments or economics. Ultimately, it is about the freedom of the people of Ukraine. And in that sense it is about defending the western world as it is also about our freedom. What it at stake is the ability for millions to live in freedom and grow that freedom. Under the authoritarians there simply is no freedom. Thirdly, we indeed are defending the west against this ‘block’ of aggressive authoritarian regimes. However, that is not because the west is ‘good’ and Russia, China and Iran are ‘evil’. As Christians we know that the west cannot be ‘good’ as no human constellation ever was or is. We are defending the west because the west offers freedom. We have a freedom here that people in Iran, China and Russia can only dream of. With all rightful complaints we may have, we need to keep that ultimate difference in mind. And we need to see that the aggression of these authoritarians is against the freedom on their doorstep (whether that is Ukraine, North-East Syria or Taiwan). These regimes fear that their own citizens will rise up against them to claim the same freedom as in these neighboring countries. But what is the freedom that we defend? In essence it is the respect for human dignity, protected by the rule of law that allows us to express ourselves as individuals or groups in public and private as we wish to. This is exactly how it is described in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. Ultimately this foundational concept of human dignity is rooted in Christianity as the coming of Christ has made it clear that God loves the world and every individual human being. The message of Exodus points to Easter which shows how important the liberation from slavery is. We see in the bible time and again that people are meant to be free and the bible time and again speaks out against oppression. Christian faith rejects oppression and calls for freedom. That is why the freedom of the people of Ukraine, Taiwan or the Middle-East is as precious as our freedom. Moreover if their freedom is squashed, it will undermine our freedom as well. That also means that the west will have to protect freedom domestically and be consistent in it defense of freedom in international relations. We need to prevent that freedom of speech is only for opinions that the majority embraces at a certain moment. We need to prevent the erosion of freedom of religion and belief. The high-profile case of Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen who is on trial for quoting the bible is therefore a very risky moment that can have serious implications if not handled with utmost care and respect for fundamental freedoms. There is a risk that people may come to think that for them there is not much difference between Europe or Russia and we need to prevent that from happening. Instead we should try to live peacefully regardless of serious differences while rejecting those views that refuse this peace and aim to undermine human dignity. The west cannot afford itself to be careless about its fundamental freedoms and needs to protect this precious balance. In international relations the west needs to end its appeasement policies. The problem is that too many western short-term economic interests are entangled with China, Russia or Turkey. It is also not credible to threaten Russia with sanctions and at the same time wanting to revive trade deals with Iran or pushing for a new trade deal with China. It is not credible if the west continues to appease Erdogan and looks away from the extremism he supports around Turkey and in Europe. In Foreign Affairs we need an active policy that supports all the realities on the map that are implementing freedom and an active policy that supports freedom-affirming opposition against totalitarian regimes. Christians should not praise or appease Putin as he is an oppressor. Moreover, in the current geopolitical reality siding with Putin means coming on the same side as Xi of China and Khamenei of Iran. This should not be an option for Christians who live in the free world and stand together with all those Christians who live under the persecution and oppression of these regimes. We also need to understand that these regimes do not care for anything but hard military and economic power. While international institutions have a number of useful purposes we need to see their limitations and not be naïve over what the UN or diplomacy can achieve. We need to see the reality that the UN is a gathering where authoritarian regimes have a veto and much influence. The UN and their diplomacy cannot ‘insert reason’ in authoritarian leaders who only care for maintaining their own power at any cost. In dealing with Putin and other authoritarians we have to try all channels of diplomacy first to avoid war but not at the cost of freedom of others. If however diplomacy does prevail and averts war, it is not because dictators suddenly played nice because we were nice. Diplomacy will in these situations not prevail because of international law and the UN. If diplomacy prevails against these regimes, it will be because the western world showed that it is unified and resolved to use its power to take hard measures to protect freedom. This is also the line that the EU, rightfully, is taking. It is now back in every national Parliament as well as in the European institutions where every politician must take a stance for freedom. And Christians should be in the forefront to defend fundamental freedoms at home and abroad.