MOSCOW (Realist English). Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, announced a strong drop in the level of Western politicians over the past 20 years. In his opinion, there are no political figures of the level of Helmut Kohl, Jacques Chirac or Margaret Thatcher left in Europe.
“The political stratum of people who personified a powerful political course, and sometimes an entire era, was replaced by a stunted waning growth of people who conventionally call themselves technocrats. Some of them are quite qualified specialists, but no more. And that’s the problem! Such people are able to correctly formulate an idea, give precise instructions to assistants. But they are not able to take responsibility. They will hide, cheat, refer to instructions, to the confluence of circumstances, even to climate change, but they will not make a decision. Or they will make it with a catastrophic delay. And this is a complete disaster,” he wrote in his telegram channel.
Medvedev stressed that a real politician is not afraid to make decisions:
“Yes, he can make a mistake and even lose. But it will be a worthy loss. Every leader is unique, but a politician is someone who is able to make an unpopular decision and be responsible for it. And who understands that international relations is not the office of a provincial director of a European school, where students are slapped and sanctioned.
No offense to anyone, but it is obvious to everyone that Mario Draghi is not Silvio Berlusconi, and Olaf Scholz is not Angela Merkel. These are new people and a new era of public administration, which, in my opinion, is far from the best. In the EU, for example, there are moderate technocrats, and there are rabid fanatics. They are almost equally divided. Big countries, of course, solo. On the whole, Germany, France and Italy look good against the general background so far. But respect for them has been undermined. Could the Ambassador of Ukraine have called Chancellor Kohl “an offended liver sausage”? Or could the current President of Ukraine have shown up for a meeting with President Chirac in a green T-shirt? Of course not. Absurd. I’m not talking about various political marginals. Or about patented Russophobes spitting out streams of anti-Russian filth, such as various Kaczynskis and Morawieckis, or about obscure insignificant retirees who are trying to offer their pathetic recipes for the world order, such as Heusgens and Vershbows. Their name is Legion.”
According to Medvedev, the problem of the degeneration of European politics is primarily associated with the fact that it has become a pale backing vocals of American soloists:
“Charles de Gaulle could stand up to any American president. And now which of the Europeans will do it without shaky hands? They don’t think about the future. They are limited only by their flabby electoral tasks. The American leaders of the new wave also do not shine with fresh ideas and mental stability. And so it will continue. Alas, light is not yet in sight. This creates problems not only for the Western world, but also for us, Russia. The caliber of politicians is irrepressibly decreasing. As Vladimir Putin once aptly remarked, “after the death of Mahatma Gandhi, there is no one to talk to.”
