Status: 03/12/2022 3:41 p.m
Some of the regimes in the Middle East show open, some covert sympathy for the rulers in the Kremlin – not least out of disappointment with the West. They reject his values anyway.
Even in Beirut, they recently marched in front of the Russian embassy with blue and yellow flags — a few dozen Ukrainians, not many more. But at least: A local camera team from Lebanese television accompanied them. Ihor Ostash, the Ukrainian ambassador to Lebanon, said what all Ukrainian ambassadors are currently saying: “We are a peaceful country, we are fighting for every inch of our homeland. It is now important to have as much support as possible.”
Hezbollah defends Putin
In the government palaces of the Arab world, solidarity with Ukraine is of course limited. So far, only the Lebanese government has clearly and harshly condemned Russia’s war of aggression. But no sooner had that happened than Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shiite Hezbollah, spoke up: The US and Britain had driven Ukraine into ruin, he declared that the condemnation of Russia was a mistake, that the West was to blame for the war in Europe.
Syria and Iran also support Russia
Hezbollah, heavily armed by Iran, is closely linked to Syria’s ruler Bashar al-Assad. The fact that he survived the Syrian civil war is thanks to the Russian air force, which intervened on the side of the regime in Syria in autumn 2015. And he owes it to Hezbollah, whose fighters, in close cooperation with the Russian air force, did the dirty work on the ground: shelling, besieging and starving cities. One hand washes the other – even if there’s blood on it. Now, seven years later, the Assad regime, Hezbollah and Iran are defending Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
Reliable partners: Syria’s ruler Assad and Russian President Putin
Image: REUTERS
Western partners are turning away
But it’s not just the usual suspects who have no problem collaborating with Putin. The West’s so-called partners – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt – are also reluctant to directly criticize Russia. The United Arab Emirates, which to a certain extent represents the Arab world in the UN Security Council, refused to condemn the Russian attack as a non-permanent member at the end of February. The abstention in World Security was intended to signal that the old loyalties are over.
Egypt, in turn, resorted to maneuvering: in the UN General Assembly, it had condemned the attack on Ukraine in the wake of 140 states. But in the middle of the week, the Egyptian President’s Office in Cairo announced that Putin and the Egyptian ruler Abdel Fatah al-Sisi had discussed the latest developments in Ukraine, the expansion of strategic cooperation, further joint development projects and the “historical connections” between the two countries spoken.
Putin and Egypt’s President al-Sisi want to expand cooperation between their countries.
Common rejection of western values
Al-Sisi appreciates arms exports from the USA and Europe. But similar to the Gulf monarchies, the Egyptian military regime is intent on gradually freeing itself from the associated dependencies. The support of the then US President Barack Obama for the Arab Spring, the announced withdrawal of the Americans from the Middle East, the resumption of nuclear negotiations with Iran – all this alienated the Arab autocrats in the long term. And the European talk of democracy and human rights just gets on their nerves.
The Ukraine war is now laying bare the tense relationship with the West. Not that Egypt or the Gulf States are going to switch to the Russian camp any time soon. There is not enough to get economically there. But the Putin system of rule fits in well with the regimes of the Arab world: do not shy away from brute force, do not show weakness, crush your opponents.