Ukraine

Baroness Rawlings Excerpts

Friday 25th February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Rawlings (Con)]

My Lords, many years ago Zbig Brzezinski said that

“without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be an empire, but with Ukraine suborned and then subordinated, Russia automatically becomes an empire.”

Since Peter the Great, Russia has craved to be part of Europe; it cannot be without Ukraine. President Zelensky said that

“in today’s world, where we live, there is no longer someone else’s war. None of you can feel safe … a war in Ukraine … is a war in Europe.”

As my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Robertson, explained so clearly, President Putin’s real fear is the encroachment of democracy on Russian borders.

My few words today concern Bulgaria, a democratic country that I have been interested in and involved with since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The unintended consequences and the present dilemma we face are what I fear. The aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine has far-reaching geopolitical consequences. It is also a provocation against the democratic countries on the eastern flank of NATO, and most importantly against countries that are less talked about but at the same time, as it may well turn out, more vulnerable to Russian provocations than those to which at present we usually give priority.

Only a few days ago, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov flagrantly questioned Bulgaria and Romania’s membership of NATO, thus putting in question the free choice of the citizens of these two NATO countries, which have long been our democratic allies. Worryingly, military activities are today being conducted closer and closer to Bulgaria and Romania.

It is a fact that in the very first hours of the Russian aggression, most of the victims fell around the city of Odessa, to the south of which live 300,000 members of a Bulgarian minority closely related to Bulgaria. Any moment now, we could expect a huge humanitarian crisis and serious waves of refugees that could make our Bulgarian allies face even greater challenges. I applaud my noble friend Lord Cormack’s speech regarding the importance of the BBC World Service, since it was always a lifeline for Bulgaria before the wall came down.

It is for this reason that I call for a categorical and uttermost expression of our solidarity and support for the countries on the south edge of the eastern flank of NATO. It is tragic that the West has allowed Russia to behave in this historically barbaric way in our modern times. I urge the Minister, before it is too late, to make certain that Bulgaria, a faithful NATO ally ever since she shed her Soviet yoke, is not forgotten.