lol

lmao

but yeah Eastern Euro states in a really bad position

both options pure shit

dissident right Russophilia is embarrassing

I have lived in Russian majority places for a long time

Do they have minerals or natural resources to exploit? Cheaper labor to compete with? Any way out of this?

@Right_Honourable Poland is emerging as a power because of their population and economy

they're one of the few countries in the world that didn't get whacked during the recession ten years ago

of course they also have poz seeping in from the edges

no amount of economic activity is going to make any eastern european country not need western allies

if they don't want to be part of the russian federation

and almost anything is better for these countries than being a part of the russian federation

especially ukraine and poland, putin would march as many dagestanis and chechens and azeri in there

that was already happening under yanukovich, and was a source of huge resentment

yeah that's what I try to explain to people; the E.U. isn't good but the E.U. also hasn't significantly harmed its Eastern Euro members in the way that Putin would

mostly they just sit around and whine about Orban and Kacynski but they don't do shit

it's a matter of geography

all these countries are small, flat, and have small populations

can't go it alone in that kind of scenario

I spent 6 months in Afghanistan about 10 years ago for work. The “goal” there was to exploit the minerals to try to get self sustainable. Of course this area has so much tribal conflict or will never amount to anything. The west uses them for military bases that’s about it. I assume Georgia is thought of as an afterthought by Russia

absolutely not, Georgia is on Russia's border

every power has a vested interest in keeping control over their neighboring countries

Bad choice of words, as someone they can push over any time they want, is what I meant

it'd be like if Mexico suddenly decided to align with Russia and China

that is true

Russia did flatten Georgia in the war ten years ago

thing is they're already under a shit ton of sanctions

due to Crimea/Ukraine/Russiagate

so I imagine they'd rather not do shit that will make things worse for them

So if I am understanding this correctly you guys are saying that without western allies Georgia is Russia’s whipping boy and Russia is not at all concerned with the health of the Georgian economy?

yes, Georgia and other Eastern European countries

if the option is Russia vs. another option they'll always take the other option

And there is not a force strong enough in eastern Europe to counterbalance Russia, and the lack of political will to do so is not there as well

having dealt with Chechens and the other minorities @blue falafel mentioned I would be pissed off like crazy if someone tried to settle them in my neighborhood

@Right_Honourable yes

there is some political will

for example the Three Seas Initiative

but we're talking about countries that have been whomped on by Russia and Germany since the late 1700's

and are also screwed by geography

so they have to be realistic