And keep your back door open for the enemy

In the massive peace demonstrations of the 1980s against the deployment of US cruise missiles aimed at the Soviet Union, Prosper Ego was a beloved enemy of the hundreds of thousands of protesters. Prosper Ego was active in parties and groups on the extreme right flankand as leader of the Former Warriors Legion, he came up with a slogan that chased peace activists: ‘Rather a rocket in the garden than a Russian in the kitchen.’

The irony is, in Monday’s debate over the Russian attack on Ukraine, almost the entire House took a position similar to that of Prosper Ego at the time. Increase defense spending to better protect the West from Russian expansionism. Only on the extreme right flank, among conservative politicians in the tradition of Ego, do they now reason like the peace protesters did: show understanding for Russians, make overtures, do not escalate the conflict.

History is also difficult to read when facts are fresh. Take the agreement by which Ukraine gave up its own nuclear weapons in 1994. In return, the country was promised that the US and Russia would guarantee “the inviolability of Ukraine’s borders.” Now you think: waiting might have been better. But if you read back pieces from then, also in NRCwas the tone before: Ukraine is finally here.

The Western confrontation with Putin, in which the Netherlands is now going along, assumes that you should never give in to his aggression. That is, you hear from diplomats, the only language he understands. As a result, the Netherlands is also sympathetic to the historic German decision to become a fully-fledged military member of NATO. Logical. But how will the world judge if Germany gets an AfD chancellor in three years’ time, partly due to increased gas prices?

In addition, a robust stance towards Russia also requires a robust democracy. The latter is no longer self-evident in the Netherlands. The departure of Nilüfer Gündogan from Volt is no accident: less than a year after the parliamentary elections, she is the fourth number two to leave her own party after Omtzigt (CDA), Van Haga (FVD) and Gario (Bij1). Ergo: political parties, the foundation of democracy, have become fragile and unpredictable. Also consider how simple it was in retrospect that a pro-Russian party entered Parliament with FVD.

So a country that goes along in an international confrontation with a superpower might have to reflect on the fragility of its democracy. Otherwise you run the risk of supporting the big work at the front, while your back door is wide open for the enemy.