Russia Should Love Brussels

Is Russia's effort to sow divisions in Europe really directed at breaking up the European Union? I suspect that is just an EU propaganda angle to exploit justified anger at Russian espionage and propaganda.

I saw an article that noted in passing that Russia was against the European Union (EU). The exact article isn't really important. I've seen that type of argument before.

But why would Russia be anti-EU?

In the short run while the EU is still a proto-empire jealous of NATO and America's leading role in this alliance, strengthening the EU is in Russia's interest. Why wouldn't Russia want scarce European defense spending directed to the proto-imperial military structure at the expense of the existing military alliance? And why wouldn't Russia want to encourage the weakening of American influence which a downgrading of NATO in favor of the EU--where America has no role--achieves?

In the medium run, an EU that builds a military structure will both weaken NATO to the point of irrelevance and which will be internally focused to stamp out embers of resistance to the multi-ethnic proto-imperial state apparatus they are building whose rulers want to make a full blown empire without the "proto" prefix built on the promise of "ever closer union."

At this point, the autocratic but still militarily and politically weak EU will be unable to compete with Russia on soft power democracy appeal; and it will be vulnerable to conventional military pressure under a Russian nuclear umbrella. This will be a window of opportunity

Only in the long run could Russia fear the European Union. Then, if the EU goes full imperial state with superpower aspirations, kicks out America for good, and has its own nuclear arsenal, it will be a rival autocratic multi-ethnic empire right on Russia's border blocking Russian revival of its old European empire right into Central Europe.

It will be one teetering corrupt empire facing off against another teetering corrupt empire. And Russia will at least have the experience edge in managing that kind of police state.

Although if that all comes to pass, America will at least be a natural ally of Russia to contain the common threat.

Really, Russia should be for the EU to get America pushed back across the Atlantic (or at least across the Channel) and leave a continental enemy, which Russia has proven capable of defeating; just as America should be against the EU, based on our long history of opposing a potential enemy from controlling the economic, scientific, and demographic potential of the continent.