ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has abstained from voting on a United Nations resolution on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, along with India, Pakistan and Bangladesh while Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives and Afghanistan voted for Ukraine.
Afghanistan had been invaded by Russia in the 1970s which eventually led to the creation of resistance groups.
Five countries opposed the resolution against the Putin’s invasion including Russia itself, Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria.
Among countries that supported Ukraine was Seychelles, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Timor-Liste, Japan, Philippines, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE.
Cambodia and Myanmar generally considered close to China also voted for Ukraine. China itself abstained. Vietnam also abstained.
Ukraine’s neighbors, Poland, Hungary, Romania, former Soviet republics of Moldavia, Latvia, Lithuania also voted against Russia along with Western nations and North America.
Most of South and Central America and small island nations in the Pacific and Caribbean also stood with Ukraine.
The UN was started by Western nations after World War II to stop aggressive wars, stemming from an earlier League of Nations set up after World War I.
German pan nationalism had been blamed for World War II (attempt to create a glorious Empire of the past in the form of the Third Reich and partly World War I.
Ukraine had accused Putin of trying to recreate a pan-Russian Soviet Union or Russian Empire like Hitler did the third Reich.
Hitler started the war by invading Poland to supposedly rescue the oppressed German-speaking ‘irredenta’. Russia had claimed that Russian speakers were discriminated in backing break-way regions.
A Ukraine law to make Ukrainian the required language in state schools from grade 05 has upset many including neighbours as an move towards linguistic nationalism.
Western European nations have been engaging in a long term effort to stop wars in Europe starting from the Treaty of Westphalia after the so-called 80 years war. The EU promotes free trade to end economic nationalism.
Concerted efforts had been made in Western Europe to end nationalism, or at least halting chauvinists from putting their ideas into law.
The line of anti-war ‘Western’ nations had gradually spread East wards and was halted after the end of World War II. But it started to expand after the fall of the Soviet Union. (Colombo/Mar03/2022)
