Before the Abyss
Tribute in Vilnius on January 12, 2024 to those who paid with their lives in the fight for freedom, independence and dignity on January 11 and 12, 1991. Photo: Nicolas Tenzer
I dedicate this text to the memory of Maksym Kryvtsov, poet and defender of Ukraine, murdered by the Russians at the age of 33. I thought of him as I wrote this, of Victoria Amelina and Yuriy Kerpatenko, to whom I had already paid tribute, and of the children, women and men killed by Russia in a war of extermination whose sole aim is death.
To speak of a decisive year may seem a conventional expression. In some cases, however, it can be. I have suggested that the Russian war against Ukraine is the decisive war, the one that Moscow can in no way win, and in this respect the year 2024 is decisive if we consider that much, if not everything, will be played out during that year. The leaders of the free world find themselves faced with a kind of abyss, which is not always the case. Their decision will determine the fate of the world for decades to come. If they give in, even slightly, to the Kremlin, a chain of consequences could lead to a strengthening of the camp of criminal dictatorships. If they have the will—for it is only a question of will, not potentiality—to defeat Russia, the world that will emerge will certainly not be perfect, nor free of all its dangers, but it will nonetheless be much brighter. Perhaps these same leaders, as well as some of their predecessors, will finally understand the extent of the darkness that Putin has cast over the world.
We’re tempted to start the year with a mixture of anger, despair and even greater resolve than ever before. We need to hold all three together.