Editorial Ta Nea: New geopolitical fronts

The convergence of authoritarianism and geopolitical revisionism is well known and comes as no surprise.

Until now, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attempted at least to keep up appearances, and did not identify completely with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he was also Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s interlocutor and maintained certain balances.

Of late, however, previous delusions have dissolved.

Moscow and Ankara have forged an alliance that entails a common struggle against the West.

Two days ago, Erdogan declared that the West is reaping what it has sowed.

Yesterday, he declared that the policy of the West is based on provocations, and he expressed “understanding” for Vladimir Putin’s decision to cut off the supply of natural gas to Germany, via the NordStream pipeline.

Putin himself, in a new anti-Western rant in Vladivostok, said that after cutting off the natural gas supply, he will suspend the supply of Russian oil to Europe if the EU imposes a ceiling on energy prices, and that he will discuss with Erdogan the prospect of a drastic reduction of grain supplies to Europe.

Effectively, the two dictators are warning Europe that it will be subjected to cold and hunger in the winter.

If one also considers the high-pitched pro-Russian rhetoric of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and the anti-European diatribes of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, along with Putin’s support for Chinese President Xi Jinping, one can conclude that the emerging geopolitical fronts are becoming clear.

Europe does not have the right to once again claim that it did not know.