Ukraine must abandon the vision of itself as a frontier country between the "wild Horde and civilized West" and create a vertical security alliance from Scandinavia to Turkey, including countries that truly understand the Russian threat. This alliance should be based on the historical "Varangian to Greek" route and unite Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland, Germany (as a source of support), Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Turkey.
Former Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan and Turkey Serhiy Korsunskiy said this in an interview with Yuriy Romanenko.
"Unlike today's vision of Ukraine as something in between – we are between the wild Horde and the civilized West, we are a frontier country that is always on the border – and this is a very bad position from an existential point of view. I would see it changed to creating a certain space," the diplomat noted.
According to Korsunskiy, this space should start in Scandinavia and end in Turkey. "We have always been part of the Varangian to Greek route, and we must understand that this environment – these are countries that definitely understand what Russia is. They have all dealt with it," he emphasized.
The expert pointed out that all countries in this belt have "goosebumps that run when you remember what Russia is." Unlike Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands or Belgium, which support Ukraine but do not have such historical experience of confronting Russia.
"We can talk with them in such a civilized way: not just the Three Seas, but let's build a real security belt for Europe. And we, Ukraine, will not be a consumer of security, of your help, but we are ready to be a contributor to security. If it catches fire with you, we will definitely help you, because we understand – this is a common cause," Korsunskiy explained the concept.
The diplomat noted the advantages of such an alliance: Norway with a trillion-dollar future generations fund, Sweden with powerful military technologies, Denmark, Finland, the Baltic states – all already actively support Ukraine and are interested in joint security. "And if we extend this to the south – Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey – then such powerful countries all along the way will give us the opportunity to have real security guarantees," the expert summarized.
