Fidan Ekiz thinks Vladimir Putin has been derailed because he has been living in isolation for a long time because of the corona virus. “He has lived in a corona bubble for two years. Does that man remember what he’s doing?”
Now that Vladimir Putin threatens nuclear war, according to Fidan Ekiz it is obvious: the Russian president is completely off the track. “Has he lost touch with reality or is this power play?” she wonders. “He is so unpredictable now. Suppose he goes a little further, what do we do?”
Bomb on Tallinn
You notice that Putin feels very cornered, according to Fidan. “The man is of course so frustrated because things are not going the way he wants. You can see it as a deterrent, but what if he actually throws a bomb later? For example, in Tallinn. What do you do then? I assume you have a scenario ready for that.”
David van Weel, NATO’s assistant secretary general, said: “Yes, but I’m certainly not going to speculate about that here.”
Very scared
Fidan notices that her family and friends are starting to get very anxious. “I have people around me who were actually scared today and who said, ‘If we continue with those sanctions now… It feels like we’re playing very, very high stakes.’ That this can trigger him. It seems like with every step we risk that that man might be able to push the button.”
Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag: “I can also sense from your questions that this is a good thing for many people, because it is an unprecedented situation. We have not had any conflict on European soil since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and we have become accustomed to living in peace, security and relative prosperity. This is huge and everyone realizes that.”
Corona
Fidan thinks Putin has gone mad because of corona. “People realize above all and that is what you also taste with me… We are dealing here with someone who behaves rather unpredictably and who has lost touch with reality. He has apparently lived in a corona bubble for two years. Does that man remember what he’s doing?”
Sigrid: “It seems he is more afraid of the coronavirus than ehh… Yes.”
Fidan: “That’s what makes it scary and dangerous.”
Fragment
An excerpt from Op1:
